In the first match of red ball action for the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield summer, Katandra swooped in to take full advantage of the extended overs, being the only club in the competition to survive the full 80-over innings on Saturday.
Despite that, there was no significant individual contribution with the bat to launch the Eagles to their ominous total at Katandra Recreation Reserve.
An 84-run opening stand set the tone as Corey Hickford and Ben Clurey took to the Bloods’ attack, but it would come unstuck when Karramomus paceman Zac Groombridge caught the edge of Clurey for 46.
Hickford would not last much longer, bowled by Ethan Baxter also for 46, before a pair of wickets in quick succession for Bloods’ Dylan Hardy brought the score to 4-129.
However, Katandra found some stabilising stints through Hadleigh Sirett (36 runs) and coach Jedd Wright (30) to continue paving a path to its tall total.
Wickets would come for the Bloods, but rarely without mini-partnerships in between, the first-wicket collaboration providing the groundwork for the Eagles tail-end to bat with some freedom.
Just two Eagles batters would make a single-digit total, one of which was not out at innings end, highlighting the all-round team effort as Katandra finished up on 9-244.
Katandra coach Wright was relatively happy with the innings, but gave credit to Karramomus’ pressure with the ball and in the field to “stall” the Eagles from capitalising fully on their momentum.
“Obviously I was pretty happy to bat out the 80 overs, there was a bit of movement early but then it flattened out and made it an easier deck to bat on,” Wright said.
“It’s great to have the majority of players contribute to the score, but in future hopefully someone in that top six can keep going on with it and make a bigger total, and that sort of takes us from a 250 target to 270, 280.
“It was nice to not lose those wickets in clumps, but Karramomus kept the screws on all day and those wickets stalled our momentum when we were getting going.”
Hardy’s figures of 3-22 were the pick the bowlers, at a tidy economy rate of 1.57 runs per over, but the all-rounder will need to be a part of a strong batting display alongside the in-form likes of Mitch McGrath and Zavier Davidson if the Bloods are to rise to the occasion next Saturday.
“There’s pressure on their top order, they’ve shouldered the bulk of their runs so far this season,” Wright said.
“The key for us will be if we can knock a couple of them over early, hopefully we can roll through the middle order and come out on top.”
THE GAME SO FAR
Katandra 9-244 (Corey Hickford 46, Ben Clurey 46, Dylan Hardy 3-22) leads Karramomus (yet to bat)
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