Sport
10 December, 2024
An eventful round for local cricket
IT was an exciting weekend for local cricket, with Atherton losing by four runs in nail-biting fashion and Mareeba getting a win against a team they lost to the previous week.
Atherton narrowly missed out on a win in their match on the weekend that saw a century, a hat-trick and the First-Grade debut of an Atheron cricket veteran’s son.
For Mareeba, it was a successful run-chase that garnered them victory over the Rovers in a game that also saw a young Bandit make his First-Grade debut.
Atheron vs Cyclones
Kicking things off at 8am Saturday morning was Atherton and the Cyclones at Cazalys Stadium in a game that, due to rain, was reduced from 40 overs to 34.
This match was in every way exciting, as victory could have fallen either way in the final overs.
It was also a proud moment for Atherton cricket veteran Greg Misener, and for the Atherton side, as Tyler Misener made his First-Grade debut.
Winning the toss, the Cyclones elected to bat and it was young Tyler Misener on debut who took the first wicket, getting cyclones Pavneet Singh out after just 14 runs.
Out to bat next was the intimidating Papua New Guinea international Hiri Hiri who got off to a good start.
A good effort from Jasran Kalkat, who scored 43 runs in partnership with Hiri, helped boost the Cyclone’s score.
After a tremendous effort with the bat Hiri got out for 101 off 82 balls after being bowled by Atherton captain Tom Boorman and caught by young Misener, with his stint featuring 10 boundaries and three sixes.
Following the dismissal of Hiri at 4/173 in the final over of the first innings, Boorman produced a spectacular performance of bowling that is seldom seen, a hat-trick.
In three balls, Boorman bowled out Hiri Hiri, Amritpal Singh Bains and Nicholas Rayner consecutively.
Boorman finished his bowling 4-33 from seven overs and the Cyclones finished their innings 6/173, giving Atherton a difficult score to chase down.
Atherton came out to bat and it was even efforts across the board, until Boorman and Chris Adams produced a great boost, scoring 40 and 33 runs respectively.
With only a few overs to go, Atherton were 8/167 following the dismissal of Lachlan Hollitt on 13 runs.
The very next ball saw Cameron Davis leave the pitch with 23 runs, after being bowled out by Hiri.
It all came down to the last over with Atherton needing seven runs to win the game.
But with two balls to go and only two runs acquired, Hiri took another wicket to secure the first win of the season for his team.
Hiri finished his bowling 4-18 from 4.4 overs and Atherton finished all out for 169 over 33.4 overs, falling short of a win by just five runs.
Mareeba vs Rovers
The Mareeba Bandits went up against the Rovers in Saturday’s midday heat at Borzi Park, Mareeba.
The two teams faced off just a week prior in a reduced overs game and saw the Rovers come away with a win.
This week, the Bandits introduced the young Kye Harris to their First-Grade side, who was presented with his club cap by captain Brendan Falvo prior to the match.
Mareeba elected to bowl first and proved to be in good form as they kept six of their rival batsmen to below 10 runs, with the highest scores being 30 and 22.
Mareeba’s Brendan Payne showed his talents with ball in hand, being 4-12 off seven overs.
Other notable bowlers from the home side were vice-captain Ben Jones and Angus Campman, who both finished 2-12 off four overs.
However, captain Brendan Falvo once again showed how reliable his hands can be, taking four catches as wicketkeeper.
The Rovers finished all out for 100 runs after 35 overs.
Mareeba came out to bat with their eyes on the 100-run chase and it was fairly even stints of batting that edged them closer to a win, with most batsman scoring around 15 runs each.
Mareeba’s highest scorer was Brendan Payne with 21 runs, and it was only until the final few overs that Mareeba caught the Rovers.
Sitting at an even score on 100 runs, it was a final boundary from Angus Campman to secure Mareeba’s win as they finished 8/104 after 33 overs.
This Saturday, Atherton will take on Norths at 12.30pm at Loder Park, Atherton while Mareeba will have a bye.
