Searching for runs: Nagambie’s Tyrone Muir.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Nagambie was unable to make it three Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield wins on the trot to begin 2022, falling to ladder-leader Central Park-St Brendan’s by eight wickets at Shepparton’s Deakin Reserve.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Losing star brother duo Mark and Luke Nolan in the lead-up to the game, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the Lakers to post a competitive score as the Tigers pounced on their top-order vulnerability.
Inspired by a damaging four-wicket spell from Dwain Vidler, the Tigers restricted Nagambie to 94 in the first innings, with their ability to consistently hit good areas a highlight of the performance.
Deep discussion: Nagambie openers James Auld and Ricky Misiti.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
The Central Park batters then showed their class in the chase, with coach Tyler Larkin and captain Brendan Scott leading the way to reach the 95 required for victory in 18.2 overs.
“We obviously had a disappointing week leading up, suffering our first Haisman Shield loss and then losing the T20 grand final, so we were pretty intent on going out there and doing a number on Nagambie,” Larkin said of his side’s mindset heading into the game.
“They were a little bit disadvantaged missing their two best players in the Nolan boys, so we knew they would have been under the pump a bit with that, so it was a real focus of ours to go out and bowl well and I thought we did that.”
Ramadan Yze was the star early for the Tigers, picking up two early wickets to have the Lakers under a lot of pressure at 2-14.
Swing and a miss: Nagambie’s Ricky Misiti.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Returning to the line-up for the first time in 2022, opener Ricky Misiti then went about filling the void left by Luke Nolan, making a gutsy 47 to try and rebuild the innings alongside Josh Sanderson.
But just as they looked to be regaining control, Vidler came into the attack and wreaked havoc in 5.2 overs of mayhem.
He received great support from spinner Jarrod Wakeling (2-4), with the pair inspiring a stunning middle order collapse of 7-26 to end the Nagambie innings at 94.
Oozing confidence at the halfway mark, Central Park suffered an early scare, losing opener Tim Kelly for a third-ball duck.
Cue the celebrations: Central Park-St Brendan’s players come together after a wicket.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
But from there it was one-way traffic, as Larkin came to the crease and anchored the chase alongside Scott and the big-hitting Rhiley Lau.
Reaching the target with eight wickets in the shed, Larkin said the performance was exactly what his side needed moving forward.
“We are always trying to improve our game and never lost confidence after last week, but we definitely needed that shot in the arm to keep us on our toes,” Larkin said.
“It was fantastic to see a few of our boys recapture some form and hopefully it can continue heading into finals.”
In B-grade, the Lakers were simply unable to match the class of Central Park-St Brendan’s, falling by nine wickets at Nagambie Recreation Reserve.
Losing the toss and being sent in, Shami Khan (21) and Cain Murray (23) got Nagambie off to a fast start with a 55-run stand for the first wicket.
From there however the Lakers batters capitulated, as the likes of Mason Reeves (3-10) and Aidan Lloyd (3-20) tore through the middle order to have them bowled out for just 113.
Looking to continue their momentum into the second innings, the Tigers were clinical with the bat, as Keiran Hogeboom (42 not out) and Matthew Collins (41 not out) did the bulk of the heavy lifting to see their side to the victory total with nine wickets in the sheds.
In E-grade, Nagambie walked away with the points after a Murchison forfeit.
Flying the flag for the Lakers in the juniors was the under-14B side, which enjoyed a 25-run triumph over Mooroopna.
Batting first, Nagambie did not lose a wicket, with Archy Harrison (15), Campbell Baker (12), Ryan Ezard (12) and Flynn Bush (12) all making valuable contributions as they posted 89 from 25 overs.
Bush then starred with ball in hand, taking 2-2 from his three overs as the Lakers put in a dominant fielding performance.
This was capped off by three run-outs as they held the Cats to 7-64 from their 25 overs.
