The WDCA senior cricket season is over, culminating in the A grade, A reserve, B grade and C grade deciders on Saturday. Delatite tasted success in their A reserve title clash with Yarrawonga Mulwala at Beechworth’s Baarmutha Park in a thriller. After winning the toss and bowling first, Delatite restricted the Lakers 163 all out, before chasing the total nine down off the last ball of the game. Delatite’s Mitchell Purcell struck early, removing Lakers skipper Hudson Gillies for a duck, while Yarrawonga’s Zac Moore (32 off 39) and Andrew Dishot (32 off 53) kept the scoreboard ticking over. The bulk of the scoring was done by Lacklan Phillips, who smacked a blistering 72 from just 42 balls, including eight boundaries and launching three over the rope. While the tail folded, the Lakers had managed 163 from 36 overs, with Richy Jacob Philip the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 4/33 from just four overs. Mark O’Loughlan led the way for Delatite at the top of the order with an impressive 55 from 89 balls opening. Nathan Goodes (20 off 44) and Trent Berry (23 off 33) fought hard through the middle order, but the Lakers would not be denied with the ball. Jack Hudson (3/22 off six), Andrew Dishot (2/39 off seven) and Oliver Connell (2/22 from five) all chipped in, but as the match went on, it became so much closer. With one over to go, Delatite needed four runs to win with two wickets in hand, managing a single, a dot, and a two to start the over. With scores level, a miscommunication saw Sam Bell run out, Delatite now needing one run from two balls with one wicket left. The next ball went down leg side but was called a dot, before Nicholas Hoskin cut hard to secure the win. In B grade, Merton won the title by 37 runs over powerhouse Rovers United Bruck. The match was set up by an 82-run opening stand from Merton’s Luke Benton (40 off 62) and Murray Sutton (43 off 61), before both were undone by Jeremy Ackroyd (2/34 from eight). Jai Lerch-MacKinnon (21 off 24) and Luke Berriman (31* off 29) were damaging late in the innings, helping Merton to a decent 5/168 total. Koby Ackroyd was the pick of the Hawks bowlers, finishing with 2/29 from just five overs. Merton got off to the best possible start, when Lerch-MacKinnon found the edge of Gary Elliott’s bat, caught in the cordon by Murray Sutton off the first ball. Wickets continued to fall until Jeremy Ackroyd came in and stabilised the chase, smashing 65 from 83. Merton kept the stumps in play, ripping through the middle order and drying up the runs. Ultimately, Rovers United Bruck made just 8/131 from their 36 overs, with Lerch-MacKinnon (2/19 off eight), Luke Berriman (2/26 off eight) and Murray Sutton (2/14 off three) incredible with the ball. It was one-way traffic in the C grade decider, where Yarrawonga Mulwala posted a comprehensive 79-run win over Beechworth Wanderers. The Lakers made 6/167, courtesy of Adam Dodd’s 43 from 78, before bowling the Wanderers out for 48 runs. Gary Browning swept through Beechworth, finishing with 4/2 from 7.1 overs, week supported by Tom Taylor (2/5 from four).
