Under-16 Victorian Bushrangers State Championships begin

In Group A, Central Highlands won the toss and elected to bat against North East Country, a decision which looked questionable when opener Connor Ronan was caught off Jacob Beattie without scoring. Their second wicket stand saw Central Highlands move to 31 before Richard Dell was stumped off Joel Sanford for 12 and then with the score still on 31 Riley Vernon was bowled by Jackson Ellis for 17. An important partnership between Darby Semmens and Dylan Landt ensued before the former was caught off Harrison Weaven for 24 with the score on 79. Weaven then picked up his second of the match as he had Landt, who top scored with 34, stumped as Central Highlands were 98-5. Number seven Joel Cadman who finished unbeaten on 16 provided a valuable contribution to Central Highlands’ 124 all out. Sanford (3-29) and Weaven (2-28) were the pick of the bowlers. In response, North East Country were dismissed for 110 in 46.3 overs as opener Liam Ross top scored with 37 before he was caught off Ben Radford. Roby Lane was the most successful bowler claiming 3-16, while Semmens was the most economical with his ten overs, half of which were maidens, costing just 12 runs.

The other match in Group A was between Metropolitan Inner South East and Metropolitan Northern and was a one-sided affair as Inner South East won the toss and chose to bat. Despite losing an early wicket with just seven runs on the board they posted an imposing total of 8-256 from their 50 overs. A 136-run second wicket partnership between Charlie Loveridge and Daniel Ingleton was the highlight which came to an end as the skipper, Ingleton, was run out for 75. Loveridge departed for 66 with the score still on 143 as he was stumped off Max Dennehy for 66. Dennehy finished his ten overs with 2-38 and was the pick of the Northern bowlers. In response, Metro Northern could muster only 83 all out in 37 overs resulting in a comprehensive 173-run loss. Jack Trevethan and James Gray were the standout bowlers claiming 3-12 and 3-9 respectively.

In Group B, Metropolitan North West won the toss and elected to bat against Northern Rivers and posted 8-156, a target which was chased down in 34.5 overs for the loss of just three wickets. Patrick Willach batted well for North West, making 56 which included four fours. Northern Rivers’ leading bowlers were Todd Murphy and Jayden Armstrong who claimed 2-13 and 2-29 respectively. It was Murphy who continued to shine for Northern Rivers as he led them to a seven-wicket victory, scoring 85 off 103, an innings which included eight fours.

The second match in Group B was between Mallee Murray and Metropolitan West. After winning the toss, Murray elected to bat and posted 9-140 from their 50 overs. Bailey Coding top scored with 32 and the pick of the bowlers for Metro West was Jay Vine who bowled two maidens and took 1-26 from his 10 overs. Metro West reached the target in 42.2 overs for the loss of seven wickets to secure a three-wicket victory.

In Group C, Barwon won the toss at the Albert Ground and elected to bat first as they faced Metropolitan South East Bayside. Barwon struggled to 71 all out in 31 overs as just two players reached double figures; Nathan Taylor (16) and Brad Brown (22). Jonathan Leadbeater and Timothy Mulholland were the pick of the bowlers claiming 3-4 and 3-16 respectively. Metro South East Bayside knocked off the runs comfortably in just 14.4 overs for the loss of two wickets as opener Harry Wardlow finished unbeaten on 34. Sam Allen bowled well for Barwon claiming the two wickets for just nine runs.

Metropolitan Outer East secured an impressive 105-run win over Gippsland Pride. Outer East made 162 all out in 49.4 overs with Ryan Masters (48) and Mitchell Perry (44) the standout batsmen. Caleb and Jonah Serong both shone with the ball taking 4-24 and 3-24 respectively. Pride lost their first wicket with the score on one and a second-wicket stand of 21 did little to revive the innings as they collapsed to 57 all out in 31.1 overs as only opener Zac Hurley (15) reached double figures. Daniel Thompson and Liam Dunning were the pick of the bowlers, taking 3-9 and 3-7 respectively.

In Group D, Metropolitan Inner East won the toss and elected to bat as they secured an impressive 145-run win over Western Waves. Scoring 8-219 from their 50 overs it was skipper and wicketkeeper Noah Croes who top scored with 43 and was followed by Jake Sticca (39) and Elliott Brandon-Jones (38). Western Waves lost three early wickets finding themselves 3-6 and after this early collapse failed to come close to their target. Joshua Murray, James Boyce and Kaushick Maheshwaran bowled fantastic, economic spells as they each claimed three-wicket hauls for 11,14 and 15 respectively.

It was a close match between Metropolitan Outer South and South East Country in Group D at Camberwell Sports Ground. Outer South won the toss and opted to bat and despite posting 187 all out in 46.1 overs, South East chased it down to secure a three wicket win with five overs to spare. Dulnath Hendawitharana (53) and Triyan De Silva (46) were the standout batsmen for Outer South, while Mason Warne and Samuel Jones each claimed 2-42. It was the second-wicket partnership of 69 between Patrick Skelly and Patrick Rowe which set South East Country a good platform to win their first match. Despite impressive bowling from Nivin Sathyajith, who finished with 4-20, and a late order collapse South East Country recorded a three-wicket win.