Kyabram Fire Brigade has logged a dominant nine-wicket win over Nondies-Cohuna in round two of the McMahon Shield.
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The Goulburn Murray Cricket clash was held at Cohuna Recreation Reserve with the home side winning the toss and electing to set a total with the bat.
Robert Salter’s blistering bowling form at the conclusion of last season had him rise to the top of the wicket-takers list in the final weeks and the Flames’ strike man wasted no time getting among the wickets this week, sending Nondies opener Will Ringin back to the sheds with the first delivery of the innings.
After a miserly opening five overs, remaining opener Angus Donat departed in the sixth, adding one run to the scorecard in his 19 balls.
Zeb Ellwood and Will O’Shea attempted to steady the ship for the host and settled in for a 10-over stint, pushing the score past 40 before Ellwood fell victim to a Bohden Learmonth delivery on 31.
A measured O’Shea partnered with Xavier Wishart and the pair ticked the scoreboard over for a time until a miscalculated run resulted in the run out of O’Shea for 14.
That brought Broden Wishart to the crease, but there was no time to settle into a partnership as the next over had Xavier Wishart and Kyeran Ellery dismissed by Salter.
Broden Wishart was joined at the crease by Matt Noonan and the two made an effort at a respectable total, getting Nondies into triple figures before the loss of Noonan again stalled their side.
The tail wasn’t able to add much to the scorecard and Nondies was all out for 141.
Salter (3-9), Tom Owen (3-20) and Learmonth (3-27) struck frequently in a dominant bowling display
Fire Brigade had little trouble hunting down the required runs.
Openers Miller Griffiths and Tim Nelson went to work, the more aggressive Nelson eventually trapped in front for a commendable 22 from 30 balls.
Brett Andison came to the wicket with intent and belted an unbeaten 54 from 48, including 10 fours and a six to rush the Flames towards Nondies’ total in 28 overs, while a more cautious Griffiths was also able to pass 50 unbeaten, finishing 53 not out.
Noonan (1-31) made the sole breakthrough for a well-beaten Nondies-Cohuna.
A two-from-two start moves Fire Brigade to the top of the ladder at this early stage, with Rochester the only other unbeaten side.
The Tigers notched a win over Echuca South in a low-scoring affair on the latter’s home deck.
The visitors batted first with skipper Angus Martin (45) and Sean Williams (39) proving the major contributors in Rochester’s 119 total.
The Tigers then bowled Echuca South out for 97, with Myles Wade’s 4-28 orchestrating a Swans collapse to keep Rochester’s perfect record intact.
Meanwhile, Moama’s victory over Bamawm-Lockington United was as routine as they come, securing the points after an eight-wicket demo job.
Matt Saunders (4-11) did the damage with the ball as BLU slumped to 96 all out, leaving Michael Hill (64) to do the majority of Moama’s leg work on the chase.
Lastly, Echuca sealed a 27-run win over Leitchville-Gunbower, defending its 7-196 total to etch its name on the winners’ list.