Fourth graders fail to defend decent total

A high sundries tally hurt Gunnedah’s fourth graders as the team fell to a respectable three-wicket loss to the North Tamworth Redbacks at Carroll Community Ground last Saturday.

Gunnedah tallied 189 runs for the loss of six wickets in its 40 overs, before North Tamworth was made to work hard for its victory.

The Redbacks were in a spot of bother at 7-152 before an unbroken 40-run stand sealed the result with 15 balls to spare.

While Gunnedah was unable to mop up the tail, it was equally telling that Gunnedah gave away 20 runs in byes, 13 in wides and three in no-balls after the Redbacks conceded 15 sundries.

The result could also have been different had Gunnedah started and finished its innings a little better, in which case the team could have tallied at least another 15 runs.

Only 19 runs were on the board when the second wicket fell in the ninth over, before Ricky Dawson struck 24 runs from 18 balls at number four. He found the boundary three times in the 11th over, with two fours off no-balls and another off a subsequent ‘free hit’.

In the following over, Dawson hammered one delivery over the boundary on the full.

Rory MacRae’s dismissals of Dawson and Ed Martin left Gunnedah 4-63, before Shiran Ranasinghe and Andrew Johns produced a 60-run stand which ended with 10 overs left.

Another 10 runs were added before the next wicket fell, and then Mitchell Fletcher changed the momentum as he scored an undefeated 39 off just 24 balls. He hit a six from the last ball of the 34th over, and then hit successive fours in the 35th over.

The 37th over cost 16 runs including a six and two fours to Fletcher, before Andrew Johns retired in the 38th over after scoring 50 from 54 balls.

Fletcher faced only two balls in the final two overs, with a mere single coming in the penultimate over before the last over contained only five runs, including a boundary to Oscar Middlebrook from the second ball.

North Tamworth had a 50-run opening stand before Ed Martin broke through in the ninth over, and a similar dismissal from the final ball of the 11th over made the score 2-64.

Nate Grasnick scored a quick 17 before he and Logan Chaffey fell to consecutive deliveries from Dawson to leave the Redbacks wobbling at 4-90 in the 16th over.

Angus Johns struck next with the total on 121, before a brisk 31-run stand turned the tide in North Tamworth’s favour. Soon the pendulum tilted back the other way, with Russell Johnston holding two catches off Toby Blinman in the space of four balls as the Redbacks slipped from 5-152 to 7-152.

MacRae held on at number nine as he scored 15 not out from 34 balls, and Cameron Baird finished with 34 not out from 54 balls at number seven as he struck the winning boundary.

North Tamworth Redbacks 7-192 (Josef Almaleh 36, Cameron Baird 34 not out; Ricky Dawson 2-25) defeated Gunnedah 6-189 (Andrew Johns 50 retired, Mitchell Fletcher 39 not out; Angus McManus 2-28) by three wickets.