THE Adelong Donkeys are a force in the Elders Cup and proved it with a 33-ran win over Wyangle at the Bull Paddock on Saturday.
The Adelong boys batted first and racked 8/143, with Tyron Gorman scoring 45 and being well supported by Justin Stanford.
Marcus Williams and Ben Hardwick were dismissed cheaply, but Gorman, Stanford and Aidan Turnbull steadied the ship.
Tahir Mukadam bowled superbly for Wyangle, taking 3/21 from eight overs.
In reply, Wyangle were dismissed for 110, Ryan Bulger getting into the 40s but finding little support.
“Full credit to Adelong they bowled well and their ground fielding was very sharp making scoring difficult,” Wyangle’s Dave Shedden said.
Premiers Tumut Plains’ title defence is right on track after their convincing eight wicket win over Gundagai at Stan Crowe Oval in Gundagai.
Gundagai won the toss and elected to bat but nobody got very far with Plains’ relentless attack.
Openers Caleb Lindley Kell and Charlie Braun were bowled by Myles Henman, and Rasika Thanippulige top scored with 14. The home team were all out for 81 after 25 overs, with William Brown taking 5/11 from 4.5 overs. Only four Gundagai batsmen got into double figures.
Plains only lost two wickets in overhauling the target, those being Richard Nillesen, who top scored with 37, and Phillip Jones with 11. Nathan Butt was unbeaten on 21 from just 10 balls.
“Plains did play well,” Lindley-Kell said.
“We did have a couple of juniors filling in but that isn’t an excuse; Plains just played better on the day; both teams were missing players.”
Competition leaders Coolac were too strong at home for the Murrumbidgee Mankadders, winning by four wickets.
Murrumbidgee batted first after winning the toss, and Timothy Kross batted superbly, hitting 58 from 41 balls, including 12 fours. Unfortunately he didn’t get much help, the next highest total being captain Michael Hargreaves’ 17. The last six batsmen got a total of three runs as the men in pink were dismissed for 123.
Joel Sharman was terrific with the ball for Coolac, taking 3/16 from 3.1 overs. The Coolac batsmen exceeded their target for the loss of five wickets, Joe Scott unbeaten on 42 from 34 balls, including seven fours while and Anthony Nicholls hitting 40 from 29, also including seven fours.
As well as being he best batsmen for the visitors, Timothy Kross was also their best with the ball, taking 3/44 from nine overs, including two maidens.
Hargreaves was unhappy with his team’s batting.
“I was pleased with how we started but we failed to go with it, which didn’t give us enough to defend with the ball,” he said.
“Our batting is our sore part. Fielding and bowling are as good as anyone. The issues compounded without Will Bingham and Nelson Foley. I missed out and we needed one of us top order batsmen to go with it; for us all to get out after hitting boundaries is a mindset mistake.
“Barely being able to bat 20 overs after being 2/83 is a disgrace, but that’s entirely to the quality of Coolac’s bowling. Will Naughton bowed beautifully in partnership with Jack Gardner and that set their change bowlers up to knock over our tail which folded like a deck chair.”
