: Mallala’s Matt Birchmore looks to play off his pads. PHOTO: Phil Williams
Liam Phillips
IN a drama-filled penultimate Barossa and Light Cricket Association A1 round, Nuriootpa delivered Angaston its first loss of the regular season to leapfrog Sandy Creek into fourth place.
Chasing 135, the Blues sputtered after Daniel Doecke took captain Greg Bain’s wicket with the first ball of the innings.
Doecke then took the wicket of fellow opener Jack Miles, who top scored with 31, before proceeding to dismiss the next six batsmen out of the shed to register eye-watering figures of 8/45, with five maidens, from 18 overs.
Doecke was a one-man wrecking crew, with Greg Henschke chipping in late to clean up the tail for 107 and a 28-run win.
Sandy slip
The Nuri result put pressure on Sandy Creek, needing to win at South Gawler to hold onto its finals spot, but a well-rounded Lions batting performance made life difficult.
Chasing 138, South Gawler’s Dael Redmond (49) and Chris Graser (41) came through with solid performances, while Brock Judd-Smith (28) and Robbie McCard (20) also contributed.
Corey Roberts (3/32) was the best Cockatoo with the ball, but his side ultimately went down by five wickets.
Birchmore carries his bat
Mallala’s Jake Birchmore (78 not-out) carried his bat on Saturday, batting the entire 63 overs to complete his side’s chase of Freeling’s 146.
The next-best for Mallala was Matthew Birchmore, with 20.
Austin Poulton was economic, finishing with figures of 1/34, with five maidens, from 19 overs, but he was unable to make any key breakthroughs to keep his side in the game.
Colquhoun makes it look easy
Tanunda’s Sam Colquhoun made light work of the Gilbert Valley bowling attack, which failed to defend a strong 203 total.
The Magpie big guns delivered against the league’s bottom side, with A1 runs leader Trent Goers scoring 58 from 50 deliveries.
But Colquhoun was the star, sitting a close second in the runs-scored leaderboard, he put up a massive 131 not-out from 97 deliveries, smacking a boundary every five balls.
The middle-order was shaky, but wasn’t asked to do much as Tanunda defended its home wicket with a five-wicket win.
As a consolation, the Bulls batted out the day’s remaining 39 overs well, reaching 2/131 on the back of a season-high 46 from Ashley McInerney, while Kym Vandeleur finished 42 not-out to complement his first innings ton.
