In a hard-fought encounter at Bunton Park, North Albury defeated Corowa by 54 runs in Round 6 of the Cricket Albury Wodonga Seniors competition.

Corowa won the toss and elected to bowl, the decision seemed justified early as Nick Grant struck in his opening spell, dismissing captain Ash Borella for just 4 runs.

Grant followed up shortly after with the wicket of Matthew Condon, thanks to a spectacular catch by Tyler Abley running out into the deep.

However, Callum Langlands and Ben Fulford put on a commanding partnership that shifted the momentum firmly in North Albury’s favour.

Langlands played a composed knock, accumulating runs steadily and keeping the scoreboard ticking. His innings of 100 runs from 130 balls, including 10 boundaries and a six, anchored the innings beautifully.

Fulford provided exceptional support, contributing 76 off 113 deliveries, blending patient defence with well-timed aggression.

The duo’s partnership added 166 runs and pushed North Albury into a commanding position.

As the innings neared its conclusion, Corowa managed to wrest back some control.

Daniel Athanitis delivered a stellar spell, claiming 5 wickets for 49 runs, dismantling the middle and lower order.

His efforts, along with Nick Grant’s earlier breakthroughs, ensured North Albury didn’t completely run away with the game.

Despite this, late hitting from Thomas Hemsley, who remained unbeaten on 26 from 17 balls, carried North Albury to an imposing total of 9/255 from their 50 overs.

Corowa began their chase of 256 with intent but faced an early setback when opener Matthew Wilson fell for just 4 runs in the second over.

With the score at 1/5, the pressure was immediately on the visitors to stabilize their innings.

Shaun Smith and Jarred Lane responded with a well-paced partnership, steering Corowa to 83 before Lane departed for a gritty 35 off 53 balls, including three boundaries and a six.

Lane’s dismissal left Corowa with a platform but also with work to do.

Smith continued to anchor the innings, working the ball around and accumulating a valuable 50 off 73 deliveries.

However, Smith’s departure at 4/127, trapped lbw by Harith Wajib, was a turning point.

Wajib proved instrumental in breaking the back of Corowa’s middle order, picking up three wickets in total, including Patrick Lavis, who struggled for his 8 runs off 24 balls, and Kade Wilson, who was caught behind for 8.

Ben Mitchell provided a spark for Corowa with an attacking 30 off 32 balls, striking five boundaries to lift the scoring rate momentarily. However, his dismissal, signalled the beginning of a collapse. Fitzpatrick bowled superbly, finishing with figures of 3/27 off his 10 overs, dismantling the lower order precisely.

Daniel Athanitis played a quick cameo, smashing 19 runs off 13 balls, including two boundaries and a six, but his efforts were short-lived.

Corowa’s tail failed to wag, with Nick Grant falling for just 1 run and Jay Lavis managing 14. At 9/178, Corowa seemed destined to fall well short of the target.

A final flourish from Ethan Lane and Mark Athanitis added some respectability to the total, with Lane remaining unbeaten on 7 off 27 balls and Athanitis contributing 12 off 18.

However, the pressure proved too much, and the innings ended at 201 in the 49th over, with Athanitis stumped. Corowa will look to bounce back next week against Baranduda.

B Grade

No report yet

C Grade

Corowa C-Grade (Division 1) have let their second game slip despite putting in their best performance in the field this season. Corowa took nine from nine catches to bundle Howlong out for 94.

Matt Goodall (two catches) had the pick of the takes with a low-to-the-ground one-hander at mid-wicket to dismiss the Spiders’ dangerous-looking No.3.

Greg Burgess’ effort was not far behind, coming in fast from the fence and taking a dipping catch low to the ground.

There was also a caught-and-bowled from Cody Kuschert, a sharp take at cover from John Conroy and three catches to wicket-keeper Ollie Collins.

Kuschert was the destroyer with the ball, the quick taking 5/10 from five overs while left-arm opener Liam McDonell (2/14) and leggie Karvan Silva (2/14) were the other multiples.

But wickets fell quickly in the chase and Corowa were 5/38 at drinks with lots to do.

Luke Kuschert (34 off 30) was happy to put the nose to the grindstone and went about giving Corowa a chance, taking the side to 88 before he holed out to a good outfield catch.

Despite two cracking fours from No.11 Blayre Smith. Corowa were left one run short of a tie as the Spiders held onto another outfield catch to dismiss the Corowa skipper and claim a thrilling victory.

The Corowa boys copped a dressing-down about their batting performance from skipper Smith and will aim to bounce back at Baranduda this week.

C Grade Div 2

C2 travelled to take on East Albury. Corowa started well with the ball as both Eli Lavis and Caleb Kuschert collecting early wickets to have East Albury 2/12.

This brought an experienced duo of Martin Young and Caleb Anderson to the crease. Young and Anderson, who was celebrating his 300th game put on a match winning partnership of 124. Young finished on 50 and Anderson retired after reaching his century.

With 10 overs to go the challenge was put to the Corowa team to see if they had learnt from the St Pats game where they leaked 115 runs from the last 10 overs.

The Corowa boys bowled well restricting East Albury to 54 runs whilst picking up 3 wickets. The wicket takers were Caleb Kuschert 2/34, Eli Lavis 1/32, Sam Burdon 1/41, Jack Williamson 1/50 and Lloyd Grantham picking up 1/6 with his one over as East Albury ended their innings 6/216.

Corowa was never really in the game in the run chase with the loss of the first 4 wickets for just 18 runs. Corowa once again had left a power of work on the shoulders of Mick Drew and Pat Mitchell to try and steer the team home to victory.

Mitchell top scored with 41 with Drew 32 and Williamson 14 the only other batsmen to reach double figures as Corowa was bowled out for 113 in 27 overs.

In what was a disappointing loss for the team, the C2 team now moves its focus to the final 3 games before Christmas with the expectation of winning all 3 games.

Under 16s

On Friday night the under 16s played East Albury at Ball Park.

The toss was lost as Corowa bowled first. The opening duo in Jack Torney and Joe Lavis started the party early. Jack took 2 early wickets and Joe followed suit with 1 after. All 3 wickets were bowled as the stumps were rattling everywhere.

East Albury were 3/8 early as Corowa looked in control. The East Albury batsmen then took back control as the fielders were on their toes.

Toby Hanrahan was then thrown the ball. He took no time to get started as he took a scalp dismantling the stumps. Toby took another wicket the following over with a snick through to the keeper.

Harry Norman followed in Toby’s footsteps taking an lbw before drinks as East Albury were 6/51 after 20 overs.

After drinks Toby Hanrahan and Joe Lavis were on fire both collecting wickets as east Albury were in strife at 8/61.

Toby finished with 3/11 off his 6 overs. Toby really set the tone with the ball. East Albury then took the game on at the end to take a few extra runs.

East Albury were bowled out for 105 after 37 overs.

Jack Torney finished with 3/8 off his 6 bowling a sharp spell and Joe Lavis finished with 1/22. Harry Norman took 1/17 off his 6. 2 terrific run outs were also featured throughout the innings.

Next week Corowa will do their best to chase down a total of 105.

Under 14s Div 1

After a good win last week we travelled to Albury to take on top of the table East Albury Essex who won the toss and elected to bat on a hot morning.

Jake Witherden started with the new ball and struck early removing their opening batsman for a duck with Dougy taking a sharp catch at gully in the first over.

The next wicket came in the 4th over with some sharp fielding by Dougy to Jagger at the bowlers end resulting in their first drop being run out and East Albury at 2/14.

The next batsman in didn’t waste any time and got away to a quick fire 14 before he missed a shot on Jagger’s bowling, trapping him in front.

The East Albury batsmen kept coming out and having a go and we kept colleting their wickets with Dougy bowling the next one to have them 4/39 and the Fin Douglas struck to remove the next one for a duck to have them 5/41 at drinks.

It didn’t get much better for East Albury in the next 10 overs as Abe removed their remaining opening bat with Callan taking a great running catch at mid on to have them 6/43.

The next pair built a partnership of 20 runs before Dougy struck to have them at 7/63 in the 18th over.

Just before the next break Harry Norman struck with Dougy taking another catch behind the stumps to leave East Albury 8/65 at the main break.

The last 2 wickets put up some resistance taking their team score to 92 with the Douglas boys combining for a runout in the 26th over before Jagger finished their innings in the 28th over.

With 9 overs to face, Harry and Jagger went out starting really well getting the team to 37 in the 9th over before Jagger got a brute of a ball that ricocheted off his ribs to add insult to injury when the ball hit his stumps bringing in our nightwatchman Fin Douglas with 4 balls to face.

Straight away Finn hit a wide ball and took off for the run before turning for the 2nd and falling just short of his ground to be run out bringing Charlie to the crease. Charlie got a nice bouncer bowled at him to welcome him to the crease before the next ball kept low taking his middle peg.

That left one ball for Archie to face to finish off the day which he narrowly survived with the ball within an inch of his off stump to finish the days play.

Good day for the boys with the ball and now we need to get the remaining 56 runs next week.

Under 14s Div 2

The innings began conservatively, with openers Will Torney and Jaxon Collins expertly navigating through the initial overs.

Their patience paid off until Will was dismissed for a solid 19 runs, followed shortly by Jaxon who scored 17. Their vital early partnership set a solid foundation for what was to follow.

Following the departure of the openers, Jackson Barber entered the crease with a determination to accelerate the scoring. Unfortunately, a misjudged run with partner Oli Matthews led to Jackson’s dismissal, prompting a need for stability. Leo Davis stepped up to provide just that, forming a remarkable middle-order partnership with Oli.

Their partnership flourished until Leo retired, making way for others while ensuring a strong momentum was maintained.

Oli Matthews continued to showcase his prowess at the crease, striking the ball confidently as he notched up an impressive half-century, finishing with a well-earned 50 runs. His ability to find gaps and build partnerships proved vital in propelling the team's score.

The latter part of the innings saw George Smith and Nathias Price elevate the innings to new heights.

Both players displayed aggressive batting, thrilling the crowd with their swashbuckling style.

Nathias made a notable contribution of 26 runs before being run out, while George followed suit with a commendable 28 runs, caught off the last ball of the innings.

In a dramatic turn of events, Leo Davis returned to the crease after a high rising ball struck Ollie Bedford in the helmet. Demonstrating true sportsmanship, Leo came back to contribute further, finishing unbeaten on 42 runs; a remarkable achievement that showcased his determination and skill.

With a final score of 7/230, the Corowa Under 14 boys cricket team demonstrated not only their batting depth but also a remarkable team spirit.

Each player played a crucial role in building a formidable total against Kiewa.

Under 12s Div 1

The boys hosted St Pats green Friday night.

The opposition batted first and lost an early wicket to a good ball from Ollie Bedford.

St Pats then steadied, and the next two bats were able to retire.

The 8th over saw Maxxy Tull bought into the attack and attack he did! claiming 2 wickets in consecutive balls with the help of Jake Rhodes taking a couple of nice catches in gully.

Unfortunately, no hat trick but Max bowled very well to finish his 2 overs with 2/5.

There were no other wickets to record for the remainder of the innings but the bowling was very tidy with St Pats only able conjure up a total of 77 with the loss of 3 wickets. Some other good bowling figures were Jack Timms 0/3, Billy Witherden 0/4 and Ollie Bedford 1/8.

Our inform opening pair George Smith and Jack Timms began our batting innings a treat once more putting the bowlers under the pump with some great hitting. Both went onto retire George with 33 and Jack on 8.

With such a great start everything looked under control in the run chase but the opposition started to straighten up and put some pressure back on.

The Roo boys defended well but scoring came to a halt with most of our middle order able to retire but with not too many runs on their scorecards.

Eventually the boys got a wriggle on with Ollie Bedford there at the end to finish it off. Jake Rhodes 9 not out, Ollie Bedford 7 not out and Benji Casey 6 not out all contributed with the bat.

That’s two great wins on the trot now with still plenty to work on and we look forward to a strong run up until the Xmas break.

Under 12s Div 2

This week the ever-improving Div 2 side were off to Scott's on by far the hottest night of the season so far. Scott's won the toss and elected to bat.

Once again, the bowlers did an excellent job restricting Scott's to a score of 9/51 off their 20 overs.

Billy Hunter with 2/4 off his 2 overs with 5 other individual wicket takers and two run outs once again shows how much these boys are improving.

With the bat opening pair Billy Hunter and Harry Closter wasted no time smashing 22 for the opening partnership.

Jobe Ollington top scorer with 26* smashing 6 boundaries along the way. Oscar Amor 19*, Kobe Raggett 17*, and Hugh Hicks 12* were the other top scores for the innings.

This takes the boys to 4-1 for the season and top of the ladder coming into our last game before the Christmas break up. special thanks to our lovely scorer this week Wes amor.

The club would like to acknowledge our sponsors for this season, A & A Auto, Davidson White Accountants, John Rhodes Bricklaying, Waldrons Fresh on River, Kilara Group, Rivalea, Terry White Chemist, O’Connors, Balldale Hotel, Federation Steel, Collins Transport, BJ Hanrahan Family Trust, Thrifty, Corowa Furnishing and Floors & Corowa RSL Club.

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Friday, 10th January 2025

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