The Murray Valley Cricket Association will resume after the Christmas and New Year break this weekend, with two grades heading back to the crease.
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The Southern Riverina’s A and B-grade sides will be back in action from Saturday, while C-grade will have to wait an extra week.
A-grade
Looking ahead to the weekend, we will see a number of teams from the area getting back into the swing of things.
A two-day match-up between Finley and Berrigan will take place on Saturday.
Being played in the Berrigan Saints’ backyard, it will give them the best chances of getting the second half of the season off on the right foot.
The two sides have met one other time this season so far, playing one another in a one-day match in round four at Finley.
The Saints were eventual winners in that last match, running down the Cats score with two wickets in hand - 8/151 to Finley’s 10/148.
There was one standout with the ball for Berrigan in the one-dayer.
Matthew Whelan bowled just over eight overs, taking five wickets at a stingy economy of 2.64.
For the Finley side, Dillon Hutton was able to take three wickets, but his side’s bowling attack just gave away too many runs.
A match high score of 52 by Matt Ross, as one of the openers, really helped to set the Saints up and on their way to the win.
Both sides occupy the bottom two ladder positions heading into the tail end of the season.
You can expect Berrigan to try to stamp their authority on the game, while Finley will be champing at the bit to get some revenge from the previous game.
Day two of the match will be played the following Saturday, January 18, also at the Berrigan Sports Ground.
It is a 12.30pm start time both weeks.
Tocumwal’s A-grade side will also take to the pitch this weekend, facing off with Barooga at the Barooga Recreation Reserve.
Also a two-day match, play will continue the following Saturday.
If the results of the last meeting between these two sides this season is anything to go by, expect a barn burner of a match.
Tocumwal took the tightest of wins in that last meeting, holding on to their last wicket to chase down a total of 190 after both sides had batted out their 45 overs.
Barooga’s captain, Brendan Lewis, scored an unbeaten 78, trying his best to guide his side to a win. Unfortunately it was to no avail.
Lewis’ teammates couldn’t chip in enough runs to make a good team total to defend.
It was a day for captains, as Tocumwal’s skipper Reilly Rennick put up an impressive 73 before being dismissed.
Lachlan Sutton bowled beautifully for the Barooga A-grade side, eventually taking an impressive five wickets off nine overs, while also having bowled four maidens.
The local blokes, Barooga will take great confidence in the fact they’re playing at home and might just catch Tocumwal this time.
B-grade
This weekend’s game in the spotlight will see Barooga play Finley.
The match, to be played on Saturday, will be a one-day fixture and will see the two sides meet at the Finley Recreation Reserve.
In their previous match-up, a pretty low score was set by Finley after being bowled out for 56.
Barooga ran it down easily, with four wickets in hand.
Kohen Haddrell took four wickets for Barooga, tearing through the Finley Cats’ batting order.
He was assisted in this by captain Samuel Leigh, who got two batters out for ducks.
The teams were due to meet again in a match just before the break, but it was abandoned due to weather.
The two sides are both bottom dwelling teams, with Finley at the bottom and Barooga just above in fifth two wins ahead.
Both will be hungry for some success in the final rounds.
C-grade
Tocumwal Bloods C-grade team will travel to Stathmerton to play the Strathmerton Bulldogs in a one-day match, taking place in a fortnight’s time, on Saturday, January 18.
Sitting in fifth, Strathmerton will be in the perfect position to try to climb up the ladder, using home field advantage and some tight play to do so.
Tocumwal, in sixth, is a bit of a hard one to put your finger on.
They beat Strathmerton comfortably last time, getting the Bulldogs all out for 80 runs after scoring 122 of their own.
One of the better players for Tocumwal in that clash was Brandon Meloury, who posted a half century before retiring.
With the ball, it was Aaron Shepherd for Tocumwal, bowling five overs, with two maidens and only giving up six runs, keeping the scoring in check with a quality bowling spell.
The match between the two will be kicking off at 1pm.