Tigers imperious over Magpies

OVENS Valley United’s batting prowess was on full display in their match with Wangaratta Magpies at McNamara Reserve, the Tigers taking the win by 45 runs. Batting first, the home side put together an incredible innings of 3/233 off the back of half centuries to Seamus Phillips and the ever-impressive Geeth Alwis. Phillips was belting the ball to every corner of the ground before he was castled by Fraser Ellis for 57 from 45 deliveries. The league’s leading run-scorer, Alwis walked to the crease at 1/77 and continued doing what he does best. He added 50 to the score with Gregor Fraser (39 off 85), who was run out following a direct hit at the non-strikers end. No matter the bowling change, the Magpies couldn’t stem the flow of runs, with Cooper Thomason (37 from 36) combining with Alwis to bring the score past 200. After their 40 overs, the Tigers had set Wangaratta a tough chase of 234 needed for victory, but with the Magpies batting depth, it was definitely possible. Magpies opener Nic Bonwick fell cheaply for just four runs, while Cooper Matheson (23 from 32), Jimmy Thewlis (run a ball 15) and Oliver Andrew (14 from 27) all found starts. Andrew’s dismissal was a peculiar one – when he went to sweep a wider delivery from Alwis, he let go of his bat in the follow through which caused it to hit the stumps, out hit wicket. Fraser Ellis batting at eight tried to infuse a touch of energy7 to the run chase with his brilliant knock of 46 runs, but the deficit was too great to overcome in 40 overs. Alwis finished with 3/33, with Josh Harris chipping in with 2/32. Tigers skipper Dylan Bursill said his team’s concentration with the bat set the stage for the win. “Everybody in the top five batted really well, we built some really good partnerships along the way,” he said. “Seamus Phillips got us off to a bit of a flyer, he hit some really good shots, he was well above a run a ball so that really helped the momentum. “When you’ve got someone like Geeth coming in at three, he got to 45 at around a run a ball without hitting a boundary, he was just playing risk-free cricket and he was doing it easy.” Ovens Valley’s bowlers more than matched the Magpies batting line-up, with wickets coming from dot ball pressure at both ends. “When Glenn White and Geeth came on, we started dotting it up and putting the pressure back on, and that brought about a couple of wickets and got us back in the game before drinks,” Bursill said. “Over the last few weeks, Glenn’s really hit some form, he’s bowling a really consistent line and length now, so it’s good to see - he can bowl long spells, so having him and Geeth up each end, they get through their overs pretty quick and bowl lots of dot balls, which is good. “Josh Harris bowled really well, he bowls some absolute cracking deliveries so he’s always a good chance of getting a wicket.” Out of the running for a spot in the white-ball final, the Tigers will look to gather momentum from their last one-dayer this weekend against Colts, ahead of the two-dayers. Elsewhere, Benalla’s horror season continued with a loss to Beechworth Wanderers. The Bushrangers rolled Beechworth for 134 runs but could only muster 119 all out in the chase, with Beechworth’s Kayde Surrey taking 3/10 in the second innings.

Tigers imperious over Magpies

No hope for finals

Flawless start for North East Knights

OVU young gun to captain Knights

Power shortage sees finals hope diminishing

Tigers prepping for push to finals

Rufous Whistler – arrival of a summer songbird

Bombers go back-to-back in A grade

“No stone unturned” – Police committed to the long-haul in manhunt

Start your engines, Wilby Drags are back

Most popular stories