Karramomus in the hot seat to earn first victory of the year after battering Euroa with ball

By Liam Nash

Dec 10, 2023

Zing: Karramomus bowler Zane Newbound flings one down with speed against Euroa. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

Christmas might be coming early for Karramomus.

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The Bloods are on the precipice of earning their first victory of the season in the last game before the break, holding Euroa in a pinch after a consummate showing on Saturday.

Karramomus sits at 2-35 with the target of 189 set by the Magpies, with only a late flurry with the bat preventing Euroa from a landslide loss.

Bloods skipper Mitch McGrath was content with his side’s current standing despite a slight blip early on with the willow.

“We started really well with the ball, I was very happy,” McGrath said.

“Probably up until tea we were right on top of them early, but then they got some runs late, James Lloyd got 40-odd and whacked them around a bit to tally up their score.

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Fine stroke: Euroa’s Scott Hamilton. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

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Smiling skip: Karramomus captain Mitchell McGrath Photo by Rechelle Zammit

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Backed in: Euroa’s Scott Hamilton. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

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Anticipating: Euroa’s Vaughan Kirk. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

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In the mitts: Karramomus wicket keeper Jayden Dhosi. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

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Give it a rip: Karramomus’ Cooper Delahey. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

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Toss it in: Karramomus’ Nathan Jones. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

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Ready to roar: Karramomus’ Lachie Keady. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

“Overall, I was happy with the bowling performance and then the batting; it’s always a little bit of a difficult time to bat with 15 or 20 overs left.

“We lost a couple of wickets, but the two boys that are in (Cooper Delahey and Nathan Jones), they both have a start and hopefully they can get a big score.”

Euroa captain Scott Hamilton looked the likeliest candidate to crack on early, but was caught out on 20 and with Nicholas Hill (16 runs) and Josh Robertson (18) gone, the Magpies soon found themselves in a spot of bother.

In fact, more than half of the visitor’s runs came from the final four batters.

In at eight, Lloyd cranked seven boundaries on the way to a fast-made 46, while ninth hitter Liam Phillips conjured an equally hasty 39.

Last man standing Ryan Hill provided the final wag of the tail with an unbeaten 22 to surge the Magpies near to 200 and the good news flowed right through to the start of the bowling innings.

The fifth over was when Euroa had its eureka moment.

Lloyd sizzled with the ball, taking two wickets in as many deliveries to halt the hosts’ progress and land himself on the hat-trick.

Unfortunately for the Magpies’ opener, Jones was able to escape being his third consecutive victim and Karramomus rolled on to close out the day in a favourable position.

Bloods bowler Zac Groombridge finished with 4-63, while Lachie Keady ended on 3-28.

THE GAME

Euroa 188 (James Lloyd 46, Liam Phillips 39, Zac Groombridge 4-63) v Karramomus 2-35 (Cooper Delahey 18*, Nathan Jones 15*, James Lloyd 2-20)

With the chance for Karramomus to round out the calendar year with an elusive first win beneath the belt, McGrath was stoked with the position his charges find themselves in.

“We’ve still got wickets in the shed, we’ve still got some good bats to come, so we’re confident, but we know it’s not going to be easy as well,” he said.

“We obviously want to win every game, but it’s definitely one you look at.

“They’re in a similar spot to us with a pretty young side, so it would be nice to finish off the year with a win and then we have a win under our belts going into the new year and anything can happen from there.”