ROUND 6 – SATURDAY, JANUARY 22WOORINEN v WANDELLA
A SPOT in the Kookaburra Cup Final will be on the line when Woorinen host Wandella at Tigerland tomorrow afternoon.
Both teams are locked on 21 points (along with Nyah District) ahead of the final two games of the Kookaburra Cup competition – Woorinen having the bye and therefore a guaranteed six points on Sunday – and for Wandella, this becomes a must-win game.
The Bombers come into the game off the back of a strong win against RSL and with two of their key players in Ryan Barnes and Greg Dickson in form. Barnes ripped through the Blues top order, claiming 5 for 21 off 7 overs, while Dickson led the way with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 58, to guide Wandella to victory.
While both players will need a repeat performance if the Bombers are to upset the Tigers, they will also need a more even contribution from the other nine players in their side. Toby Gray and Laine Gibbons have both shown that they are capable of producing a big score at the top of the order, while Logan Keighran and Daniel Higgs can trouble most batting line-ups.
Woorinen will also go into the weekend full of confidence following dominant wins against RSL and Ultima-TUF last week. The Tigers have started the new year in scintillating form with the bat, particularly Cooper Fox, Marcus Mangiameli and Mitch Uhlhorn, who all posted half centuries last weekend.
With that sort of form – and with the knowledge that victory will almost guarantee themselves a spot in the Kookaburra Cup Final – it’s hard to see Woorinen dropping this one.
Tip – Woorinen to book themselves a spot in the Final.NYAH DISTRICT v ULTIMA-TUF
NYAH District will welcome back a number of key players for their must-win game against the Roodogs tomorrow, with a win needed to keep them in the hunt for the Kookaburra Cup.
The Demons, on 21 points, are right in the three-team log jam along with Woorinen and Wandella, and have a very real chance of sneaking into the decider should they win both of their games – and have other results to go their way as well.
After showing great promise throughout the T20 competition, Ultima-TUF have had a difficult start to the season proper, going winless through their opening three games. While the Roodogs have come up against some tough competition, including leading teams St Mary’s and Woorinen, Kade Benfield would be disappointed that his team haven’t secured at least one win to this point.
Tomorrow could well be the best opportunity to get the monkey off their back, especially if Ben Shepherd continues on with his good form from last Saturday. Shepherd once again showed how damaging a batsman he can be, blasting 72 off just 66 balls against the best bowling attack in the league.
If he turns up in a similar frame of mind, it could spell danger for the inexperienced Nyah District bowling attack. With that said, Demon’s skipper Ben Shadbolt has been in sensational touch with the ball, taking 10 wickets at an average of just 5.10 so far this season – and will be the man most likely to remove Shepherd cheaply.
Nyah District will welcome back a number of players who missed last week’s win over Swan Hill, including Mitch Grinham and both Oliver and Charlie Boulton, to further strengthen their batting line-up, which should just give them the edge.
Tip – Nyah District to win in a nail-biter.ST MARY’S-TYNTYNDER v RSL
ST MARY’S-TYNTYNDER will be looking to guarantee themselves a spot in the Kookaburra Cup Final when they host RSL on Saturday.
The Saints have been the standout team so far in season 2021-22 and are yet to be defeated – while RSL’s form has been patchy at best.
At their best, the Blues are capable of beating anyone, including St Mary’s and if they want to get the six points and climb their way back into the top four, that’s exactly what they will need to bring tomorrow afternoon.
The last time they met, back in the early rounds of the McDonald’s T20 competition, the Saints’ bowlers worked over the dangerous RSL batting line-up, restricting the Blues to just 98. Much like that encounter, one can expect this to be where the game is won and lost once again.
RSL’s big strength has long been their batting. Ryan Hinton, Brenton Caldwell and Stuart Patterson are all genuine stars of the league and when allowed to bat for any length of time, they can take a game away from you in the blink of an eye.
On the other hand, St Mary’s-Tyntynder’s big strength this season has been their bowling, with Corey Daniels and Dom Violi both among the leading wicket takers so far this season. The loss of Charlie King due to a foot injury will hurt the Saints, but they should have more than enough depth with Jack Shannahan, Austin McKerrow and youngster Koben Ryan to cover King’s absence.
Tip – St Mary’s-Tyntynder to be the first team through to the Kookaburra Cup Final.ROUND 7 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 23
ULTIMA-TUF v SWAN HILL
DEPENDING on the results of Saturday’s games, it could well be that both Ultima-TUF and Swan Hill are still searching for win number one when they face off at the Alan Garden Reserve on Sunday.
While the Roodogs have a winnable game against Nyah District in round six, this will be Swan Hill’s first game of the weekend, having enjoyed the bye 24 hours earlier.
On paper, Ultima-TUF look to have the far superior batting line-up, with Ben Shepherd returning from the break in form and with class players Kade Benfield, Kyle Symons and Mitch Seton-Stewart always posing a threat.
The Swans have enough class with the bat to trouble the Roodogs’ attack, but we just haven’t seen it often enough this season. Cal Noonan showed his potential throughout the T20 competition, but as yet hasn’t been able to replicate that form in the season proper. Lachie Edwards is another class batsman who is yet to hit the heights he’s capable of. If either of them can find form, then a win for the Swans could be there for the taking.
Both teams have struggled with the ball in their opening one-day games of the season, particularly when it comes to restricting their opposition’s ability to score – and the team who is able to hit the right areas will likely come out on top.
While both teams have been expensive with the ball, the Swans’ constant battle with wides and inaccurate bowling is next level – and unless they’re able to correct this problem, it will likely cost them again.
Tip – Ultima-TUF to get win number one.WANDELLA v ST MARY’S-TYNTYNDER
THE results from the day prior will have a large bearing on this game – and exactly who needs to win in order to qualify for the Kookaburra Cup Final.
Heading into the weekend, St Mary’s need just one win from their two games to qualify, with the Saints having a far superior percentage – while two wins for Wandella is what’s required for them to make it through to their first grand final since joining the SHDCA.
For the Bombers, it all sounds simple enough, but for them to achieve that goal, they’ll need to get the job done against the competition favourites who, to this point, haven’t even looked like being beaten.
The Saints batting continues to improve with each game – which is a scary prospect for the rest of the competition. Riley Daniels was the star last Saturday with 62 at the top of the order, but St Mary’s-Tyntynder’s great strength has been the fact they aren’t reliant on any one player to do the bulk of their scoring, with Corey Daniels, Jack Shannahan and Bailey Codling all having made contributions at different stages of the season.
Wandella on the other hand rely heavily on star opening bowler Ryan Barnes to do the bulk of the damage with the new pill – and if he doesn’t take early scalps, then the Bombers tend to struggle to keep their opposition to a chasable total.
While it might be St Mary’s-Tyntynder’s first trip to Riverside Park, in their current form, they’ll be more than confident of heading north up the highway with the six points.
Tip – St Mary’s-Tyntynder to remain undefeated.RSL v NYAH DISTRICT
THE final game of the weekend will see two traditional rivals lock horns at Gurnett Oval, with RSL to host Nyah District on Sunday afternoon.
Whenever these two teams meet the standard goes up a notch, with both clubs bringing the best out of each other – and this encounter should be no different, especially with both sides still in the hunt for the Kookaburra Cup Grand Final heading into the weekend.
Much of both teams’ fortunes on Sunday will rest with their captains. Ryan Hinton is leading the way for RSL with the bat, scoring 101 runs at 50.5 and when he goes big, so do the Blues.
The same can be said for Nyah District, with their skipper Ben Shadbolt having taken the second-most wickets in the competition to date, which included a five wicket haul last Saturday against the Swans.
While Hinton and Shadbolt will hold the key for their clubs, so too will Demon Justin Toomey, who is the SHDCA’s leading run scorer this season with 115 runs at 57.5 and RSL’s Brenton Caldwell, who is always a dangerous proposition with either bat or ball.
Both teams are expected to be fighting it out for a top four berth come the season’s end, and one can expect another classic battle between these two rivals – a battle that should once again go right down to the wire.
Tip – RSL to have the edge at home – just.
