Sport
12 December, 2022
Laane and Colts set the stage for exciting one-day decider after big MDCA finish
On a dramatic Saturday afternoon’s play, Laanecoorie Dunolly and Colts Phelans were able to win through to this week’s grand final to round out the year in sport. Colts were able to win through to the grand final at Maryborough’s expense, with...
On a dramatic Saturday afternoon’s play, Laanecoorie Dunolly and Colts Phelans were able to win through to this week’s grand final to round out the year in sport.
Colts were able to win through to the grand final at Maryborough’s expense, with a game of dramatic momentum swings eventually going their way, with their eventual chase of 177 the highest successful chase since Clunes’ pursuit of 189 against MKM to open the 2018/19 season.
Meantime, Laane were also able to create some new records for the 2022/23 season, with their 240 the highest score since their 5/342 in the final home-and-away round of the 2020/21 season, likewise against MKM.
Both teams’ best performers for the season were again at the forefront on Saturday.
Samit Gohil scored his first century for Laanecoorie Dunolly on Saturday, finishing with 104 as he and Tom Hannett were able to share a 172-run partnership. Hannett finished with 70, while Benjamin Gunn finished on 50.
Likewise, Ed Foreman was one of the heroes for Colts in their win against the Owls, finishing on 50, while Wayne Stubbings finished with 4/25 with the ball.
Stubbings, as well as the rest of the Colts’ crew, were ecstatic following the game on Saturday.
“It’s a good result. The lads are quite happy and ecstatic, and it was good to win in a tight game. It was one where Maryborough were in front for a while, then we clawed our way back, then got off to a good start with the bat, then they clawed us back again, and we were able to finish it off at the end. So, it’s a very satisfying result,” he said.
Stubbings praised the work of Foreman this season, who is ranked second on the runs list with 179 at an average of just under 45.
“Ed’s batting has been coming along very nicely this season, and he is a class player. At the moment, our batting has been our strength, and it came through on Saturday,” he said.
The recruitment of Foreman, alongside fellow British players Callum Watts and Matt Scott, was part of a concerted effort to get more youth into the club, which has allowed them to play a brash brand of cricket throughout the season.
“It’s also been good to have a bit of youth at the club. They run hard between the wickets, and it was clear on Saturday with the importance of being able to do so, for example, when Maryborough pulled the screws a little bit and made it hard to score boundaries, we were still able to rotate the strike and get our three or four an over. The people we have injected into the side has definitely made a difference to the depth of their batting,” Stubbings said.
“The key to any batting innings is not to lose big clumps of wickets. Against Laane, we lost three or four quick wickets at crucial times and we were unable to finish off, which was something that we discussed.
“Making sure the players understand and perform their role is also important. It isn’t able whether you take five wickets or making 100 runs, it’s about whether you have performed and executed your role, and if you do that, it contributes to the side winning, and that’s what it’s all about. We try not to focus on the individual performances, but on what the entire team is trying to do.”
Stubbings said he is looking forward to the challenge of playing Laane on Saturday.
“We look forward to playing Laane as it is, as they’re the benchmark, but in our last game, we were okay. We felt we were in control of that game until we fell away badly towards the end of our batting innings. But since then, we’ve been able to inject a couple of players into our team and we’ve been training differently. In the last couple of games, we’ve been finishing games off really well. So there’s plenty to look forward to next week,” he said.
Laane counterpart Matt Smith was likewise excited about the prospect of facing Colts, who he believes have improved greatly since their early-season matchup.
“Colts are a really strong team who have had some strong performances lately. We were able to get the upper hand on them earlier in the year, but they seem like they have upped their game since then. They are making some big scores, and have a strong bowling lineup. We have to make sure we treat them with the utmost respect, they are a very dangerous team to play at the moment,” he said.
Smith echoes Stubbings’ remarks about Colts playing a more aggressive brand of cricket this season, noting conversations that were had following their game in November.
“I’ve had this conversation with Colts players, even after our meeting earlier in the season, and they recognised that they wanted to be a bit more attacking with the bat, taking their game to the opposition a little bit more, and it looks like they are doing that now,” he said.
“We’re expecting that they’ll come out firing on Saturday and put us under pressure early with the ball and bat. They have some quality players — Egan and Foreman have certainly been making runs of late, Stubbings at the top, and everyone is contributing for them at the moment, they are a very even team. We can’t afford to take them lightly at all, so we need to play the full 80 overs out as best as we possibly can.”
Smith paid tribute to the squad at his disposal this season, which had undergone some changes throughout their batting and bowling lineups.
“Last time we played Colts, we had a different bowling lineup — Brady Williams was still around and we had a couple of fill-ins, with one (Alex Sutton) taking four wickets, which certainly helped. Our bowling is steady, even with Brady going overseas, which means we’ve lost our strike bowler,” he said.
“We are also a strong batting team, so it’s important that our top four get a lot of the runs to set the game up for us each and every time they play.”
That batting lineup has been led by Gohil, with his 104 on Saturday moving his average to 102 for the season.
“Samit is such a talented player who has played at a much-higher level, but what I love about him is just the way that he prepares, he always makes sure that he respects the opposition. He’s spoken a lot about his process to make sure that he is ready to play, and is very passionate, which is all we could ask for. He is so invested in the club, he wants to do well and wants the club to do well, which is his main goal, helping Laanecoorie Dunolly Cricket Club win games of cricket. His performances are certainly helping with that,” he said.
Smith also paid tribute to Benjamin Gunn, whose quickfire 50 not out helped Laane continue to gain momentum in their innings of 270 against the Magpies.
“Ben is a great talent. He’s made a lot of runs over a lot of years in cricket in Bendigo, and he’s such a dangerous player. He strikes the ball so well, and when he’s able to come in such as on the weekend when Samit and Tom were able to set up the innings, it’s an added bonus for the team and it’s not much of a relief when he comes out to the crease himself,” he said.
Finally, Smith says he’s just excited to participate in a high-quality grand final on Saturday.
“We are expecting a very close game on the weekend. It’s been great to see the calibre of players who have entered the competition this season, it’s great to see international players who are adding some excitement to the cricket field. We’re excited to be playing Colts, and we’re lucky to be here thanks to the hard work Ralph Williams does, who constantly puts us in a position to compete for these sorts of premierships, and we’ll make sure we’ll put in as much effort as we can to reward him and our supporters,” he said.
Further details for the grand final matchup will be released during the week at the time of production.