Premier test beckons

Beechworth’s A grade will test themselves against the WDCA benchmark in their Baarmutha Park opener on Saturday, coming up against the undefeated reigning premiers. The Wanderers will take plenty of confidence with the bat into their crunch clash against Yarrawonga Mulwala coming off two straight wins chasing down totals of 200-plus. Last weekend in Wangaratta they triumphed by six wickets thanks to a thrilling middle order burst from Kayde Surrey and Taylor Thomson. Wangaratta chose to bat first, and opener Jimmy Thewlis was hammering them to all parts, doing the bulk of the scoring in his 89-run stand with Connor Dennis. After Dennis (14 from 63) and Zach Wallace (three ball duck) fell, the rapid-fire Cal Honey joined Thewlis in the middle, and the pair set out to score at pace. The partnership put on 96 runs in 17 overs, undone when Honey hit one down long off’s throat for a run-a-ball 56. Thewlis was the next to go, falling just short of his century on 98 after playing across the line to one from Jon Carson that kept low. The rest of the Magpies cobbled together enough runs to see the total past 200, with 223 on the board and a strong total to defend. Carson was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 2/31 from his nine, while Archer Warner (2/30 off six) and Matt Ryan (1/44 from seven) were effective but expensive. The chase was on for the Wanderers, but they struggled to make significant inroads into the target until brothers Brenton and Kayde Surrey came together at the crease with Beechworth at 2/29. The Surreys, as they have done many times before, kickstarted the innings with a 44-run stand before Brenton was caught trying to clear mid-off. Matt Ryan (19) and Henry Scalzo (19) both made starts and stuck with the fast-scoring Kayde Surrey, but the Wanderers still needed 63 off their final 12 overs with five wickets in hand. And rising to the occasion was the young excitement machine Taylor Thomson, who tore the match away from the Magpies. His 43 off just 29 balls included five fours in a match-winning seven-over stint at the crease, before he was bowled with the team needing just three runs to win. Remarkably Surrey, the set batter, faced just 13 balls in the 60-run partnership with Thomson as he went on to finish unbeaten on 75 off 87 balls. Beechworth’s A grade has surged to 2-1 and will test themselves against the best in Beechworth on Saturday. In other grades, the Stanley Cutters are off the mark this season thanks to a seven wicket win over Delatite at the Stanley Recreation Reserve. Brandon Fitzpatrick made an immediate impact coming down from A grade and taking 2/3 off eight overs, while Sam Thomson took 3/10 restricting the Devils to 110. Jed Enslow (41) led the way in the run chase. The under 12s gold side recorded their second win of the season in Wangaratta against City Colts while the under 14s went down in a high scoring two-dayer, despite a huge 84 not out from George Pfahlert. The under 16 girls and boys teams also went down in competitive matches.

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