Under-14 Victorian Bushrangers State Championships begin

North East Country won the toss and elected to bat first against Central Highlands as they won their first match by 39 runs. Opener Tom Bracher top scored with 27 as they posted 132 all out from their 40 overs. James Doherty was the standout bowler for Central Highlands as he claimed 4-21 from his eight overs which included the scalp of Doherty. In reply, Central Highlands could muster only 93 runs as they were dismissed inside 37 overs with seven wickets falling due to run outs as the batsmen struggled to put the bowlers away. Tory Wallace was the pick of the bowlers with 2-6 but it was certainly a team performance in the field as they ensured pressure was put on the batsmen.

Metropolitan Inner South East won the toss and opted to bat first as they went on to win their opening match by 22 runs against Metropolitan Northern. It was strong early partnerships of 51 and 59 which saw Inner South East post 5-147 from their 40 overs. Max Stevenson made 58 and Henry Hayman 44. The pick of the bowlers for Metro Northern was Kinnan Asdagi who took 2-12 from four overs. In reply, it was only Lachlan Biggs who gave Northern any hope of a victory as he made 44 before he was caught off Joshua Burns. Jesse Castan (2-17) and Burns (2-13) were the pick of the attack.

After winning the toss Metropolitan North West elected to bat first against Northern Rivers and secured a 35-run victory. Harry Moore top scored with 60 and Aidan Kanj made 42 as they posted 7-189 from their 40 overs. Nahid Hossin was Northern Rivers’ top bowler as he took 3-34 from his seven overs, including the prize wicket of Moore. After a 54-run opening stand, Northern Rivers lost regular wickets and were unable to rekindle a decent partnership to win their first game. Wicketkeeper and opener, Lewis McShane, top scored with 29, though without 35 runs coming through extras their losing margin would have been far greater. Jagadeswararao Koduru claimed 3-24 for North West but it was Samuel Beer who got the important breakthrough as he had McShane caught.

After winning the toss Metropolitan West elected to bat first against Mallee Murray and posted 166 all out in 39.3 overs as they recorded a 70-run win. Wicketkeeper Max Hatzoglou top scored for Metro with 33, closely followed by Cameron Jackson who made 32. There were four run outs in the innings and despite going for 46 runs from his seven overs, Oscar Cooke was the pick of the bowlers, claiming two wickets including the vital wicket of Hatzoglou. Mallee Murray struggled to dispatch the bowlers and lost wickets at regular intervals as they struggled to 96 all out in the 36^th over. Ethan Acevski was Metro West’s best bowler, taking 3-6 from his four overs.

Metropolitan South East Bayside won the toss and opted to bat in their match against Barwon.  Bayside posted 7-195 and secured a 90-run win as they dismissed Barwon inside 32 overs. After losing Hemp for a duck with the score on just six, Bayside needed to consolidate and ensure they did not regret their decision to bat first. Regret they did not. The saying of bowling for run outs came into play in this match as Barwon were only able to break the second-wicket partnership by doing just that. Mitchell Domann was run out for 75 after he and Rory Freeman, later run out for 61, put on 137. Max Potter claimed 2-30 as he finished with Barwon’s best figures. Bowling for run outs was not a necessity for Bayside but because of scoreboard pressure that is how they lost two of their top three. Barwon were 4-12 so did well to partially recover to 105 all out, mainly after their number seven, Finn McCombe, scored 29. It was certainly an all-round performance from Bayside’s attack but the pick of the bowlers were Miles Sellenger with 2-7 and Thomas Christie with 2-10.

Gippsland Pride won the toss and elected to bat first but found runs hard to come by and were dismissed for just 63 after 28.3 overs, a score which was chased down by Metropolitan Outer East in 24.2 overs as they secured a five-wicket win. While it was an economical bowling performance from each member of the attack it was Will Parker who came away with the best figures of 3.3 overs 3-4. Lachlan Jansen top scored with 28 in Outer East’s successful run chase, while Jordan Hack was Pride’s pick of the bowlers taking 2-18 from his eight overs.

Western Waves won the toss and chose to bat first against Metropolitan Inner East. It was a tight finish but their 151 all out from 40 overs was chased down in the 40^th over as Inner East won by two wickets. Western Waves’ captain, Bailey Jenkinson, led from the front as he made 62 and shared a 104-run partnership with number five, Isaac Wareham (37). Angus Molden was the pick of the bowlers for Inner East, taking 3-15 including both openers. Jake McGurk also came away with impressive figures – 2-6 – including the important scalp of Jenkinson. Despite no batsman reaching his half-century, there were three useful scores of 32 by McGurk, 38 by Henry Brown and 30* from Nicholas Crawford which ensured Inner East secured a victory with four balls to spare.

Metropolitan Outer South won the toss and elected to bat first against South East Country posting 180 all out from their 40 overs and then restricting South East to 9-151 to win by 29 runs. Despite losing an early wicket with the score on just five, Ashley Chandrasinghe and Yash Pednekar put on a 119-run partnership which enabled them to set a competitive target. Chandrasinghe top scored with 70 and Pednekar made 67. Joshua Ash was the pick of the bowlers for South East Country taking 4-38 from his eight overs. In reply, it was Matthew Van Wijk who made 46 not out at number nine who was the standout batsman but he had too much to do. Trent Symms was the pick of the bowlers for Outer South as he finished with 3-22 from his six overs.