Sport
19 February, 2024
Bird battle evenly poised going into second day
PHIL HOOPER INSURANCE A GRADE MARYBOROUGH 152 v BEAUFORT 3/27 A wicket with the last ball of the day has left the clash between Maryborough and Beaufort evenly poised ahead of day two at Princes Park. Maryborough elected to bat first, with Lachlan...
PHIL HOOPER INSURANCE A GRADE MARYBOROUGH 152 v BEAUFORT 3/27
A wicket with the last ball of the day has left the clash between Maryborough and Beaufort evenly poised ahead of day two at Princes Park.
Maryborough elected to bat first, with Lachlan Bursill looking to play aggressively at the top of the order, while the ever-reliable Ben Hoban looked to hold up a wicket and frustrate the Beaufort bowlers.
Bursill, however, was unstuck on 13, bowled by Joel Pymer for the first wicket of the day.
Mitch McClure came in and was desperate to make an impact for the Owls, scoring 17 in quick time before he nicked a Pymer delivery to Charlie Dyer behind the stumps for his second wicket.
Soon, Martin Dell would be in and looking to continue his good form from last week, when he scored 81.
Together with Hoban, the duo would combine to bring the score up to 80 before Dell was dismissed, with Jack Smith and Lachlan Oddie combining.
Oddie would soon come on and the competition-leading wicket-taker would have his first wicket of the day, bowling Daniel Leahy for one.
Wickets seemed to fall at a constant rate after that, with Maryborough getting some starts in their partnership, but not going on with it.
Hoban and Lachie Condie put on 16 runs before Condie was Pymer’s third wicket, caught by Nick Cushing.
Soon, Oddie would strike twice in quick succession, bowling Marc Cassidy for six before trapping Steven Shovan in front for a duck.
Sam Thomson was next to go for four, with Joe Kingsbury’s first wicket of the day, caught out by Ben Grant.
Hoban looked to be aggressive with the Owls eight down with Jasper Trickey, and the two combined for a 19-run partnership. However, Trickey was gone when Tom Grant and Dyer combined to run him out with the score on 142.
Hoban did bring up his 50, and Pravin Yadav was looking to get some late runs, but he too was ran out, with Pymer and Dyer combining to end the innings.
Oddie led the way with 3/20 off 19 overs, while Pymer took 3/34 off 16.
Beaufort were looking to consolidate their perceived advantage off the last 14 overs and also survive into day two, but it wasn’t forthcoming.
Instead, Dell was tasked with getting early wickets and he delivered.
First, Cushing was bowled for six, before Tom was caught by Shovan for seven.
Dyer and Oddie looked to finish the day on a high, with Dyer unbeaten on eight, but Oddie was dismissed on the last ball, bowled by Yadav for five.
Dell has taken 2/6 off five overs, while Yadav currently has 1/0 off two overs, when play resumes on Saturday.