Gunnedah’s fourth graders held their nerve at Donnelly Fields last Saturday, as they defeated South Tamworth by nine runs in a thrilling round one contest.

The home side was 13 balls shy of batting out its 40 overs when the final wicket fell at 162, before the visitors suffered a sharp collapse when victory was in sight.

Seasoned campaigners Jono Middlebrook and Ken Walters stood out with bat and ball while there was plenty of youth in the Gunnedah team, including Middlebrook’s son Oscar and Walters’s daughter Marnee who kept wickets tidily.

There were two father-and-daughter combinations, with Shane Fleming coming out of retirement while his daughter Zoe returned to the Gunnedah cricket scene.

There were also two father-and-son combinations, with George and Bis Hoddle batting in the lower order after the Middlebrook pair opened the batting.

Jono Middlebrook found the boundary twice in each of the first three overs, as he went on the attack while his son held firm.

Oscar scored six in an opening stand of 52 before he was run out, and then his dad smacked a six and scored a single to reach the retirement score of 50.

Zoe Fleming scored 14 before Gunnedah collapsed from 1-79 to 5-81.

The skipper, Ken Walters, led the recovery with an innings of 36 before he and George Hoddle fell from successive balls to leave Gunnedah 8-141.

Jono Middlebrook hit a six in his return to the crease, and finished with 57 not out from 38 balls while Shane Fleming was last out for a vital 23.

Little did anyone know how much difference the 16-run last-wicket stand would make in the final washup!

Having captured 3-9 from four overs, Hamish Blackman then struck two fours in the first over of the run chase.

A couple of catching opportunities went begging in the first five overs, before the first wicket fell in the 11th over with the total on 63.

Ken Walters broke through in the following over, before a four to Ashlin took him to 52 retired in the 15th over.

A run out made the score 3-87 after 16 overs, and then a 29-run stand seemingly had South Tamworth well-placed until Zoe Fleming earned a well-deserved wicket after luck eluded her earlier on. She finished with fine figures of 1-17 from eight overs.

Another run out sparked a collapse as South Tamworth slipped from 4-128 to 8-135, with Jono Middlebrook grabbing two wickets and Shane Fleming taking one. One of Middlebrook’s wickets came when his son held a catch.

South Tamworth skipper Andrew McDonald hit successive fours in one over and then clubbed a six in the next over. But then his batting partner was run out, as the captain chanced a short single to retain the strike.

Ashlin returned as 12 runs were needed from five overs with one wicket in hand. Two runs were added before Ashlin hammered the ball to mid-on where George Hoddle held the winning catch under pressure, sparking jubilation among the locals.

Asked what pleased him most about the team’s performance, Ken Walters said it was “just a whole round team effort”.

“Everyone pitched in, and we got the job done,” he said.

Gunnedah’s skipper said “the key thing was taking wickets”, particularly with South Tamworth needing only 59 runs in the final 20 overs with seven wickets in hand.

With the fourth graders being the third Gunnedah team to record a win on the day, Ken Walters said “Gunnedah I think is going to be competitive this year” while there was “plenty of strong youth coming through”.

This Saturday the Gunnedah outfit will trek to Riverside to encounter a Bective East team which is coming off a hefty eight-wicket loss to City United.

Gunnedah 162 (Jono Middlebrook 57 not out, Ken Walters 36; Hamish Blackman 3-9, Damien Ashlin 3-22, Jacob Anderson 3-32) defeated South Tamworth 153 (Damien Ashlin 52; Ken Walters 2-15, Jono Middlebrook 2-18) by 9 runs.

JUBILATION: Gunnedah’s fourth graders rejoice after recording a nine-run win.