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Gallery | Saturday Sundries | 62, not 99, the lucky number in the lower grades
Saturday Sundries are all the extra highlights from the weekend’s lower grade cricket — from the top run-scorer to the best bowling figures and anything else of interest from the district grounds.
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News photographer Megan Fisher was at Mooroopna and Kyabram’s B-grade clash to capture snapshots of all the action.
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Gone fishing: Kyabram's Jayden Tucker retreives the ball from under a bench. Photo by Megan FisherImage 2 of 9
In the field: Jayden Tucker picks up the ball. Photo by Megan FisherImage 3 of 9
Big slog: Troy Brown loads up for a big swing. Photo by Megan FisherImage 4 of 9
Directing traffic: Kyabram wicket keeper Jason Leocata organises the field. Photo by Megan FisherImage 5 of 9
On the Ball: Kyabram's Lukas Hanslow fields the ball in the deep. Photo by Megan FisherImage 6 of 9
Defence: Mooroopna's Riley Moon blocks the ball. Photo by Megan FisherImage 7 of 9
Up in the air: Jason Parsons tosses the ball to himself as he prepares to bowl. Photo by Megan FisherImage 8 of 9
Flipper: Riley Morris tosses the ball back into the middle. Photo by Megan FisherImage 9 of 9
In the middle: Mooroopna's Troy Brown and Riley Moon chat out at the crease. Photo by Megan FisherLucky number 62
If you wanted to get through to the B-grade grand final, you had to have a player make a score of 62.
Mooroopna’s Riley Moon and Waaia’s Jacob Johnson reached that magical figure, with their teams advancing through to the decider.
Mooroopna defeated Kyabram by 15 runs, while Waaia topped Numurkah by three runs.
Moon faced 100 deliveries as he crafted his highest score of the season in the Cats’ elimination semi-final victory.
Johnson smacked eight boundaries for Waaia as he reached his second half-century of the campaign.
Unfortunately for Kyabram and Waaia, neither had a player hit that winning number of 62.
Looking fine, 99
Lachlan Gilligan was working wonders with the willow on Saturday, blasting his way to the highest score in the lower grades.
Gilligan smashed a mammoth 20 boundaries – 14 fours and four sixes – as he scored 99 runs off 68 deliveries.
But it was there that his spectacular innings came to an agonising end.
Gilligan was bowled out one run shy of what would have been a memorable century, with Brendan Dehne-Jenkins of Karramomus claiming his wicket.
Fortunately though Gilligan didn’t go home too disheartened, with Invergordon advancing to the C-grade grand final after defeating Karramomus.
Close, but no cigar
Two semi-finals came down to the wire, with the outcome decided by only a handful of runs.
In B-grade, Numurkah fell three runs short of chasing down Waaia’s total of 172 after reaching 9-169.
And in E-grade Nagambie reached 114 at the 40-over mark – two runs shy of Katandra’s score of 116.
It was a pair of heartbreaking defeats to end the season, with both teams left to rue what could have been as they miss out on taking the field on grand final day.
When a hero comes along
Katandra needed a hero in its E-grade semi-final against Nagambie.
Heading into the final over, Nagambie needed five runs for victory with three wickets in hand.
In strode Katandra’s Callum Savio, who produced his best over of the day when his team needed it the most.
Savio’s first two delivieries went for no runs, but Nagambie picked up two runs on the third.
Three to win, three balls remaining.
The fourth delivery was another dot ball – the pressure was building.
Ryan Ezard was run out on the next ball, but Nagambie was still well and truly alive with two runs needed to force a tie.
What happens on the final ball of the over? Savio clean bowls Tyler Ritchie, sealing a thrilling two-run win for Katandra.
Quack, quack, quack
There are hundreds of thousands of ducks all across Australia, with the water bird a common sight near lakes, rivers and soaring through the sky.
But at the weekend there was no better place to see a duck than on the cricket field.
There was a colossal 23 batters dismissed for naught across the eight B, C, D and E-grade semi-finals at the weekend.
Duck was clearly on the menu, with bowlers feasting on the delicacy across the board.
Golden ducks were a rare species, however, with four batters dismissed on their first ball.
Howzat
Invergordon’s Dean Mangles earned the bowler of the week honour after a blazing performance with the ball.
Mangles took 5-25 in C-grade, helping Invergordon to a 60-run victory over Karramomus.
It was the first time Mangles had taken more than two wickets in a game this season, but the timing was perfect as it helped his side reach the grand final.
Numurkah’s Reydan Lacuin (4-23) and Dustan Ebborn (4-37), Mooroopna’s Damon Zampaglione (4-36) and Brendan Dehne-Jenkins (4-46) of Karramomus took four wickets as well.