Nathalia crowned kings again

Nathalia won the toss and elected to bowl at the Barooga Recreation Reserve.

Efforts from Mark Wilson (3-31) and Xavier Daniel (2-31) ensured that Cobram was slow to put together its runs.

It wasn’t until Bodey Webb (43 from 65) and Hunter Hardwidge (44 from 43) stepped to the crease that Cobram made significant headway on the board.

By the end of its 40 overs, the Tigers had posted a mean 9-156.

Such was the target for Nathalia to chase down when David Brereton (10 from 11) took up the willow.

A final partnership of Braydon Kearns (top-scoring with 75 from 104, not-out) and Gus Frostick (30 from 41) edged Nathalia up to 5-144.

It was always going to be a close game, and it all came down to further efforts from Nate Summerville (6 from 5, not-out) and a last-ditch boundary from Kearns.

Cobram found itself chasing wickets to little avail as Nathalia closed in on the chase.

Despite final efforts with the ball from Cobram’s Noah Sneddon (2-32), Nathalia took the win by 5 wickets with 5-158 to Cobram’s 9-156.

Nathalia skipper David Brereton said he was proud of his team’s collective effort.

“It’s exciting for the club, and fantastic for the players who’ve been involved. There’s 16 to 20 guys who could’ve easily played in this side, and it’s a reward for the efforts in the season that we’ve had,” Brereton said.

“The twelve who played today all played a crucial role.

“Kearnsey was fantastic with the bat, Gus Frostick, for a 15-year-old, displays great maturity and batted extremely well.

“There’s a bus trip home, and a fair chance that will be pretty rowdy.”