It has been quite the season for Mornington’s Justin Carter who claimed his second half-century of the season on Saturday afternoon.

With the Kookaburras winning the toss, the side elected to bowl first, sending Carter and Mornington captain, Rhyce Kliendienst in to open the batting at Kitchener Oval.

The pair put together a 50 run partnership before Bailey Keeler bowled Kliendienst for 30 runs off 32 balls.

Aaron Condrick came in at first drop and could only manage 12 runs before being bowled by Rowan Keeler, leaving Mornington at a comfortable 2-86.

Henry Johns was the next to the crease, forming a 53 run partnership, before Carter was dismissed by Cameron Waugh for 52.

Carter’s half-century in 89 balls played a huge factor in helping Mornington to their eventual total of 183 runs. For the season, Carter sits at an impressive average of 31.43 with the bat, a considerable improvement from the two previous seasons where he averaged 10.07 in 17 matches and 16.09 in 10 matches.

The remainder of Mornington’s batters saw Johns finish with 23, along with 10 from Joshua Langdon, 1 from Ben Hennessy, 11 from Aidan King and 11 from Oliver Thomas.

Riordan (3-37) and Waugh (2-33) were the pick of the Kookaburras’ bowlers, contributing five of the seven wickets. 

Mornington’s target of 184 set for the Kookaburras to chase down was always going to be a tough task. Especially considering the totals scored by each team in the past month.

Similar to Mornington, the Kookaburras were off to a strong start with the opening pair scoring 48 runs before the fall of Jayden Winsor for 28 runs off 31 balls.

Riordan came in at first drop and managed nine quick runs before Johns picked up the wicket, leaving the Kookaburras 2-64.

Opener, Luke Ellis was up next, scoring 21 runs off 54 balls with Hennessy taking his wicket, caught and bowled.

The Kookaburras’ middle order offered some stability as it looked to chase down the required runs.

Waugh added 14 runs off 18 balls before being caught behind through King’s bowling.

Chris Holliday suffered the same fate as Waugh and was also dismissed for 14 runs. It left the Kookaburras 5-113.

Bailey Keeler added 19 runs along with Patrick Paul coming in clutch for the Kookaburras with 32 runs in 60 balls.

The pair was dismissed in quick succession, leaving the side with nine more runs to chase down to win the game.

With the win in sight, the Kookaburras required one more run off the last ball to beat Mornington, however, a runout by Cooper Blinman, saw Graham Keeler dismissed and the game ending in a draw.

Kliendienst was Mornington’s best performing bowler finishing the game with figures of 4-14 off eight overs. King was next best with 2-22.

The Kookaburras will now face first placed Albion at Wolseley Oval on Saturday with Mornington playing Court House at Kitchener Oval.

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