Tumut Plains showed their win in the 2023-24 Elders Cup grand final was no fluke with a resounding 173 run win over Wyangle in the grand final replay on the Bull Paddock synthetic wicket on Saturday.
Wyangle won the toss and put Tumut Plains into bat, and Plains put on an imposing 8/296 off their 40 overs.
Co-captain Stephen Gill blasted 128 off just 70 balls, including 14 fours and seven sixes.
Nathan Butt hit 84 off 62 including seven four and six sixes, and Richard Nillesen hit 30.
Ronan Butler was the pick of the Wyangle bowlers, taking 4/57.
In response Wyangle could only manage 9/123, with Tahir Mukadam easily the highest scorer with 44 off just 19 balls. The next highest scorer was opener Ryan Bulger, who hit 18, including three fours and a six.
Tumut Plains’ Kevin Keogh said his team wanted to put a marker down for the season in the first round.
“Wyangle have been one of the most successful teams for many years and we wanted to make a statement, and we definitely did,” he said.
“We battled well; they put us into bat, and we would have batted first if we had won the toss. We had a game plan to take it to the bowlers, and get the upper hand early on. Richie Nillesen and Will Brown opened for us, and were fantastic. We want to protect our better batsmen, like Nathan Butt and play them in the middle order where they can use their kill set and talent.
The Murrumbidgee Mankadders won their first ever Elders Cup game with a six-wicket triumph over a depleted Gundagai in round one of the Elders Cup at Borambola on Saturday.
“Birds are flying backwards, horses are eating each other, Bunters taking catches and the Mankadders have won a game!” the club declared on Facebook.
Gundagai’s return to the Elders Cup after being absent last season did not go according to plan, and a depleted side was dismissed with a score of 7/64 from 29.5 overs. Their top scorer was Jared Elphick, who managed 16, and was one of only two Gundagai batsmen to reach double figures. Extras was the equal “top scorer” with 16.
Timothy Kross was devastating with the ball for the Mankadders, taking 3/8 off 6.5 overs, which included two maidens.
All the other bowlers in pink were super economical and effective.
The Mankadders matched their effort with the ball with the bat, with Luke Piltz smashing 47 off only 22 balls in an innings which included three sixes and three fours.
He was eventually caught by Cooper Smith from the bowling of Jared Elphick just three short of a half century.
He was ably assisted by Michael Hargreaves and Ryan Marshman who hit 12 and five respectively, Murrumbidgee passing the total with the loss of only Piltz’s wicket.
“Our first win in the Elders Cup is fantastic and the result hard work our group has put in, it will be good to build on but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” Michael Hargraves said. “Gundagai unluckily had a few key players out and we were both happy to just play a nice game of cricket. Spirit of the day was brilliant.
“We came close last year against Plains and Wyangle but we nearly always showing one or two players short which kills any hope but this year there is a great feeling around and we’ve picked up several committed players in Damian Large, Scott O’Brien, Josh and Ryan Marshman.
“Josh Williams and James Bunter bowled really well to start the day off and young Charlie Crowe whipped it in real quick for a kid. We know what Timmy Kross can do and he picked up the last few wickets. Luke Piltz just dominated with the bat and made my job at the other end incredibly easy, chasing 64 and I realised after we got 12 off the second over ‘hang on we can win this by 10 wickets and our net run rate will be insane’. Sadly, looks like Piltzy is likely going to be at RSL this season and just fill in when he can. If he knows what’s good for him.”
The Adelong Donkeys started the season in the best possible way with a terrific four wicket win over Coolac at Coolac Recreation Ground.
Coolac batted first and were all out for 152 off 31.3 overs, a modest total by their standards.
Things were looking godd for the home team early when Angus Stapleton hit a half century off just 27 balls, including six fours and a six. Duane Shawcross backed up with 41 and Tim Graham 28, but after that things didn’t go well for the Highwaymen.
All the Adelong bowlers made a big impact, the best being David Turnbull who took 3/14 and Marcus Williams who got 2/2.
Adelong passed Wyangle’s total for the loss of six wickets in 35.4 overs.
Mark Johns top scored for the Donkeys with 40 not out, followed by David Turnbull with 32 not out. Zac Scott and Ben Wysman each took two wickets for Coolac.