U16 Male State Champs: Venables, Shukla lead Spirit to finals

Venables made a confident 83 from just 88 balls (including 11 fours) as the Spirit was eventually bowled out for 206 off 48.4 overs.

Valuable contributions were made by Blake Johnston (32) and Zane Donazzon (25), but a collapse of 3-1 by the tail prevented the possibility of boosting the score even further.

Jack Lalor was the major wicket taker for the Highlands, picking up 3-30.

In response, the Highlands started their chase well, as Lalor (28) and fellow-opener Mitchell Bench (19) put on 53 for the first wicket.

A huge collapse ensued however, as Donazzon and Shukla took 4-3 between them and in the blink of an eye the Spirit was back on top.

The Highlands never really recovered as Shukla dominated the middle order on his was to a brilliant 5-24.

They were eventually dismissed for 144, going down by 62 runs.

The Spirit will go on to play the South East Sharks in the quarter finals today.

The South East Bayside Breakers also advanced to the quarter finals after defeating the Mallee Murray Bulls.

Batting first, it was a strong team performance by the Breakers.

Most of the recognised batsmen did their jobs, building partnerships and keeping the runs ticking over.

The in-form Blake Parsons top scored with 49, while Edward Newman (41), Zach Hanson (36) and Shubham Bhargave (32) all played well.

The Breakers were dismissed in the final over of their innings for 216, Jay Turlan (3-28) was again the pick of the bowlers for the Bulls.

In their chase, the Bulls had some good contributions from their batsmen, but the lower order still ended up with too much work to do.

With the game in the balance at 6-128, Jonathan Leadbeater ripped through the Bulls’ tail, taking 5-24 for the match.

All out for 151, the Bulls fell 65 runs short (Brent Daniels 44, Joel Walsh 30).

The Breakers will face the North East Knights in a quarter final today.

The Inner East Emus were generally unchallenged as they cemented a finals spot by defeated the Western Waves.

After being sent in to bat, the Emus immediately made the Waves pay for the decision, batting well throughout their innings and finishing with a very impressive score of 8-256.

Nathan Boucher kept his strong form going with 60, while Luke Davidson (48) just missed out on a half century.

Joe McKinnon did his best to stem the flow of runs, taking 4-41.

In response, the run rate was simply out of reach for the Waves.

Behind Daniel Kerber’s 48, they were able to bat out their innings, but finished 106 runs short with 7-150.

Charles Simondson was the catalyst for the Emus as he bowled tight and picked up wickets along the way, finishing with 3-20 from his 10 overs.

The Emus will play the Southern Pioneers in the quarter finals.

In the battle for top spot in pool B, the Pioneers lost to the Northern Falcons, but both sides made it through to the finals.

The Falcons batted first, making a modest total of 9-175 with Akashdeep Cheema (32) and Christian Snelson (32) top scoring.

Brayden Sharp was the leading wicket taker for the Pioneers with 3-37.

The Pioneers’ chase didn’t begin well, losing their first three wickets for 35 runs.

After opener Saad Khattack was dismissed for 31, Durras Seccull set out steer his side home.

He ran out of partners however, as the Pioneers looked for quick runs to snatch the win in the final overs.

Seccull finished with 40 not out as the Pioneers were bowled out for 152 in the final over of the match.

The win gave the Falcons first place in their group and they will meet the Barwon Rockets in the quarter finals, while the Pioneers will play the Emus.

In the remaining games:

The Northern Rivers 201 (Bell 58, Mueller 33, McGillivray 4-43) defeated the Gippsland Pride 7-188 (Giove 52, Park 34). Unfortunately, both sides missed out on a quarter final berth.

The North West Wizards 9-203 (Stingel 83, Spaull 41, McMaster 3-32) defeated the South East Sharks 9-166 (La Brooy 27, Burnside 3-14, Mevissen 3-31).

Despite the loss, the Sharks finish second in their group and will play the Western Spirit in a quarter final.

The North East Knights 9-189 (Garoni 66, Beer 4-42) defeated the Outer East Eagles 100 (Smyth 25, Scammell 3-16, King 3-26).

The Knights finish second in their group and will play the South East Bayside Breakers in a quarter final.

The Barwon Rockets 9-203 (Cowie 3-28) defeated the Inner South East Scorpions 9-138 (McCartin 4-22).

The Rockets finish second in their group and will play the Northern Falcons in a quarter final.