Swan Hill v Woorinen
Woorinen will be aiming to return to the winners list when they take on Swan Hill at the Showgrounds Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers would have pencilled this match is as a certain victory at the start of the season, but after the Swans’ encouraging performance against reigning premiers St Mary’s-Tyntynder last Saturday, it now looms as a danger game for the yellow and black.
After putting just 92 runs on the board from their 40 overs, Swan Hill almost pulled off the unthinkable and defended it, thanks largely to new recruit Sam Collidge and his five-wicket haul.
The Swans were without key batsmen Lachlan Edwards and Ammar Khalid last Saturday, with Edwards in particular holding the key to Swan Hill being capable of producing a defendable score.
Swan Hill will go in as underdogs on Saturday, with Woorinen expected to bite back hard after a disappointing result against Nyah District.
While Stefan Mangiameli and Guri Singh were as dependable as ever, the Tigers will need to find some more depth with the ball to help the two veterans, while at the same time finding some consistency with the bat.
The good news for supporters of the yellow and black is that there is more than enough class in their side to handle whatever the Swans throw at them, especially if Dean Morpeth, Cooper Fox, Darren Rushton or Jason Mangiameli spend plenty of time at the crease.
Ultima-TUF v RSL
Ultima-TUF will be out to secure their first points this season when they host RSL in new Roodog Charlie Kingwill’s first match against his former side on Saturday.
Ultima-TUF were no match for St Mary’s-Tyntynder in their opening game of the season, with an eight wicket loss a less than ideal way to get their 2023-24 campaign underway.
While Saturday’s match against the Blues would appear a more even contest on paper, they will be in for no less of a challenge judging by RSL’s form with the bat last Saturday.
The Blues amassed 210 against Barham-Koondrook, with veterans Stuart Patterson, Ryan Hinton and Paul Munro all looking in ominous form.
RSL were solid with the bat, their depth looked a little shallow with the ball, with Barham-Koondrook almost chasing down the massive target without Cameron Cook and Brenton Caldwell at their disposal.
Caldwell is a chance to return on Saturday, but Cook won’t, with the opening bowler set to miss the bulk of RSL’s matches before the Christmas break.
While the Blues have found a strong replacement in youngster Lleyton Purcell, Cook’s absence should give the Roodogs confidence that if they can restrict the visitors to under 150, then they will at least be in the contest.
St Mary’s-Tyntynder v Barham-Koondrook
Barham-Koondrook will get their first look at premiership favourites St Mary’s-Tyntynder when the two clubs meet Saturday afternoon.
It has been a tough start to their first season in the SHDCA for Barham-Koondrook, having played three finalists from last season in the first three rounds.
So far, the league’s newest side has passed with flying colours, pushing Nyah District all the way in round 1, before a promising win over Wandella by 52 runs last weekend.
Saturday is expected to be a much tougher test for Barham-Koondrook, although St Mary’s-Tyntynder would want not want a reoccurrence of last Saturday’s performance with the bat, when they only just got over the line against Swan Hill.
While Jonty Chaproniere has started the season in fine form, the Bulldogs’ middle order was found wanting, and if it wasn’t for skipper Nathaniel Holmes-Brown’s unbeaten 24, then we may well have been talking about St Mary’s-Tyntynder’s first loss for the season.
The challenge for Barham-Koondrook’s batsmen will be finding a way to score against the miserly Bulldogs bowling attack, who have given up just 101 and 92 runs with the ball in the first two rounds.
The ability to strangle opposition run rates has long been St Mary’s-Tyntynder’s big weapon, and unless Garry Lolicato, Chameera Akurugoda or Joel Davidson can break out of the shackles, it’s hard to see them beating the premiers.
