A-Grade bow out but U16s and U14s through to the Grand Final
Unfortunately the Sandy Creek A-Grade has been defeated by South Gawler in their semi-final over the weekend. After bowling the opposition out for 184 in just 48.3 overs (Rooster 4/46, Diener 4/81), the Cockies were left under 100 overs to chase it down. Unfortunately they had a collapse of 5 wickets for 1 run to go from 1/25 to 5/26 and it was all an uphill struggle from there. Rearguard efforts from veterans Longman, Roberts and Gum gave a glimmer of hope, but when Pumper Gum was dismissed for his best score of the season (37) it left far too many needed for the last wicket and the Cockatoos ultimately fell 58 runs short. It was a fair effort for the A-Grade to have even made the finals after losing 3 of their top 5 run scorers from last season and the signs for the future are good, with 6 players under the age of 20 playing in the side during the year, including two U16 fast bowlers over 6 feet tall in Luke Hajdu and Wyatt Ryan. The scorecard for the final is here.
For the juniors it was a better story though, with the U16s and U14s both winning their semi finals. The Under 16s were chasing 168 from Eudunda-Robertstown when the match was abandoned due to weather/pitch and went through as the higher placed team. The lad with a million nicknames, Wyatt “Wild Thing, Big W, Cowboy etc etc” Ryan took 3/16 to be the pick of the bowlers, with fellow A-Grader Luke “Chopsticks” Hajdu taking 2/20 and both Tyler Grainger-Balding and Josh Riggs picking up 2-fors as well. The scorecard is here. They now take on Greenock at Tanunda on the evenings of Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd March.
The U14s won in very convincing style, dismissing Gawler Central for just 26 runs in pursuit of the young Cockies 168. Ryan “Heater” Heath top scored with 32 ahead of 20-odds from Horsburgh, Wilkin and Roberts, while Horsburgh (3/2) and Tappert (3/8) led the way with the ball. The scorecard is available here. They now take on Angaston at Greenock on the mornings of Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th March.
