Sport
5 February, 2024
Fourteen wickets fall at Beaufort
A fascinating opening day’s play at Beaufort means that all results are in play after 14 wickets fell. Beaufort won the toss and elected to bowl, knowing the pitch at Goldfields Reserve have served the bowlers well early in games, and throughout...
A fascinating opening day’s play at Beaufort means that all results are in play after 14 wickets fell.
Beaufort won the toss and elected to bowl, knowing the pitch at Goldfields Reserve have served the bowlers well early in games, and throughout much of the early stages, it did the trick.
The Crows’ first wicket came courtesy of Lachlan Oddie and Ben Grant combining to run Caleb Cluff out for 10, and soon after, Joel Pymer was on the board, removing William Coutts for one.
Soon, Joe Kingsbury would be on the scene, and he would start off what would be a terrific day for him by getting two key wickets, that of Martin Mark for 12 and Dean Nalder for four.
Soon, Cooper Mark would be Kingsbury’s third victim for three, and when Zachery Dally took the wicket of Michael Cook, Carisbrook were suddenly 6/36.
Cole Harris and Lucas Hurse were able to best adapt to the Beaufort pitch among the Carisbrook batsmen, putting on a 34-run stand for the seventh wicket, but competition-leading wicket-taker Oddie struck to remove Hurse for 11.
That triggered another mini-collapse, with Kingsbury completing a five-wicket haul by trapping Parteek Singh in front for LBW for one, and following up with the wicket of James Adam three balls later.
Ritik Yadav and Harris put on 20 for the final wicket, but Oddie had his second wicket by removing Yadav for 13, and ending the innings, with Harris stranded on the other end, unbeaten for a well-played 29.
Kingsbury’s outstanding bowling yielded figures of 5/32 off 15 overs, while Oddie took 2/17 off 6.5.
Beaufort still had 33 overs to negotiate for the rest of the day, and were determined to try and secure first innings points.
However, Carisbrook, to their credit, were able to bowl well, particularly with Yadav making his return.
He claimed the first wicket of the Crows innings by removing Joshua Lofts for six, and combined well with Hurse, who was next to strike, removing Charlie Dyer for 11.
Yadav had the final two wickets of the day as he was proving hard to score off, catching Oddie off his own bowling and also getting the wicket of Pymer late in the day.
Beaufort will resume at 4/44, with Kingsbury looking to add to his good bowling by starting day two unbeaten on four, while Thomas Grant will be starting on 14.
Yadav will be looking for a second five-wicket haul of the season, having taken 3/10 off 16 overs.