Sport
8 December, 2022
Finals arrive early for Owls and Colts
Think of this game as a preliminary final for both Maryborough and Colts Phelans. The reward for the winner? A grand final berth in the one-day com-petition next Saturday afternoon. Both teams are separated by just three points on the one-day...
Think of this game as a preliminary final for both Maryborough and Colts Phelans. The reward for the winner? A grand final berth in the one-day com-petition next Saturday afternoon.
Both teams are separated by just three points on the one-day ladder, so a win for either will guarantee them a spot in the grand final.
Should Colts win, Maryborough would then have to rely on Laanecoorie Dunolly losing to Clunes to ensure they would have another crack at the boys in blue next Saturday.
Regardless, both teams come in with good form on their side.
Maryborough returned to Princes Park for their first game at the venue in almost two years, and had the best possible result, taking a seven-wicket victory over Beaufort.
The win was set-up thanks to an early, Martin Dell-inspired spell that yielded four wickets while conceding just 25 runs, and either side of a 53-run partnership that was generated largely through the Crows’ Lachlan Oddie, they were able to take charge of the game with six wickets for just eight runs, with Zac McLeod taking four wickets.
Although the Owls fell to 2/10 in the early stages, Dell, Mitch McClure and Harry Lumsden were able to steady the ship and guide them to an important victory.
Meantime, Colts were able to fight back from a tricky situation at Clunes to take an eight-wicket victory, moving themselves up to second on the one-day table.
They seemed to be in trouble when Clunes ticked the scoreboard over to be 1/101, but Dayne Baker and Ben Stubbings inspired a collapse which saw the Magpies lose 9/40, with Baker finishing with five wickets and Stubbings three.
It was left to Ed Foreman and Rhys Egan to shoulder the load when it came time to bat, with both batsmen putting on a 93-run partnership to guide Colts’ to victory.
This will be the first one-day meeting between the two teams since round 11 in 2021. On that occasion, 83 runs from Sam Bartlett helped guide the Owls to 7/177 off their 40 overs, before they restricted Colts to 99 all out to take a 78-run victory, with Mick Malik and Jake Postle taking seven wickets between them.