A victory for the Cats

The Finley Cats had another tough game, this time against Katamatite, in Murray Valley A-grade cricket on Saturday.

It was a wet start, with the game being delayed due to the wet ground.

When play got underway, the Cats won the toss and decided to bat, putting on 96.

Archie Mason (30) and Jono Cattell (22) led the way producing the bulk of the scoring, and Logan Eldridge (8) kept the Katty boys out there longer than they would have thought.

Finley were straight under pressure with the ball, only managing to take two wickets - Archie Mason (1/26) and Harrison King (1/13) - before Katamatite reached the total.

Cattell took home the Finley Bakery and Patisserie players’ player award.

The Cats continue to look forward to their next match.

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Finley C-grade had a home game against Katunga Swans.

Katunga won the toss and decided to bat first. Opening bowlers Callum Campbell (0/6) and Josh Flight (1/9) started well, limiting any scoring shots to keep Katunga 1/15 off the first 10 overs.

Young Lachy Wells came on and bowled well for 1/24 and at the opposite end Jackson Tooke brought many of opportunities from the edge of the bat but they kept finding the gaps.

Finley were in a strong position at drinks having Katunga 2/34, but after the break Katunga came out firing.

Cook made a quick 25 before being bowled by Alister Wells who finished with 2/13 and Katunga finished their innings at 7/132.

After lunch Finley came out looking to score early and start the run chase off strong, but unfortunately this wasn’t the case with Dale Rees out for 0 and Adam Marshall trapped LBW for 1.

Lachy Wells (12) and Luke Keating (17) steadied the ship, picking off the bad balls to pile on some runs before both were caught, bringing Josh Flight (19) and Jackson Tooke (4) to the crease.

Flight hit three fours and a big six before being caught at cover.

Finley were in all sorts of trouble at 6/59, until Callum Campbell - with a cool head and captain’s knock of 43 not out - was joined by Alister Wells, who was just as cool headed with 33 not out.

They picked off any bad balls and found the boundary nine times with eight fours and a six between them to slowly but surely bring home the win for the Cats with two overs to go.

The Finley Bakery and Patisserie player of the match was Alister Wells with an impressive day with bat and ball.

Last Thursday night, the young under-17 Cats travelled to take on Nathalia in the first day of a two day match.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the opening batsmen in Dan Eldridge and Jonty King were looking strong throughout the first five overs despite good spells by the opening bowlers.

At the change of ends, things started to look a little bit different for the young Cats with wickets falling in succession throughout the next 10 overs, with the score falling rapidly to 7-16 at the end of the 13th over.

The 10th wicket partnership held tight, giving the Nathalia bowlers a hard time with the best combination of the game being between Lachlan Whelan and Patrick Billings, taking the score to a disappointing 47.

After only lasting 26 overs with the bat, there was still work to do with the ball before the end of the day’s play.

The opening bowlers Dan Eldridge and Lachlan Whelan had great first spells, bowling tight lines and beating the bat on multiple occasions.

After the opening spells, Jackson Tooke and Nathan Brown were brought on and picked up two wickets.

Nathalia were 2/33 at the end of the day’s play.