Gallery | Cunning Katandra stays in Haisman Shield one-day title race after win over Old Students

By Marcus Beeck

Dec 22, 2024

Katandra's Seth Westley charges in on Saturday. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

Katandra went out with a bang on the final day of the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield for 2024.

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As the region’s cricket turns from hard pitches and slog sweep sixes to backyard wickets and one-hand-one-bounce catches, the Eagles secured an important victory in their chase for one-day finals.

A small margin separates the top seven one-day sides in the competition and each win is crucial with a single one-day fixture left in the new year.

Old Students hosted Katandra at Kialla Park Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

Students won the toss and elected to bat with opener Sam O’Brien (20 runs off 38 balls) and first drop Maninderjit Singh (26 off 41) getting the hosts off to a bright start.

After an expensive first few overs, Katandra’s opening bowlers Seth Westley (1-38 from eight overs) and Hadleigh Sirett (3-25 from seven) fixed their line and length to finish their spells strong.

Young gun all-rounder Oscar Lambourn was Students’ best with the willow, scoring 51 runs off 83 balls in an innings that included three boundaries and a six.

Eagles pair Corey Hickford and Bailey Simpson finished with two wickets apiece.

Students ended their 45 overs with a competitive total of 170.

Old Students’ bowling stocks were limited as the side was missing the likes of James Meek, Jamie Carr and Callan McCabe.

Katandra’s Ben Pedretti anchored the Eagles’ innings, scoring 49 off 66 (seven boundaries) before Lambourn had him out caught.

A fast flurry with the bat from Katandra’s Jedd Wright (22 off 11) and Sirett (37* off 18) saw the visitors storm home to a bonus-point-securing victory.

Sutherland (1-10 off six) and Liam Callegari (2-26 off five) were the pick of Students’ bowlers in the four-wicket loss.

THE GAME

Old Students 170 (Oscar Lambourn 51, Maninderjit Singh 26, Hadleigh Sirett 3-25) lt Katandra 6-171 (Ben Pedretti 49, Hadleigh Sirett 37*, Liam Callegari 2-26)

STAR PLAYER

Hadleigh Sirett (Katandra): The Eagles’ gun veteran was wayward early conceding 11 wides, but the issue was soon fixed and Sirett only had 14 more runs added to his figures. Went ballistic with the bat, scoring at more than a 200 strike rate and struck four boundaries and three sixes to help his side secure an important bonus point.

Katandra coach Ryleigh Shannon said there were lots of lessons to take out of Saturday’s contest.

“A scratchy performance from us,” Shannon said.

“With the ball, the stats show we didn’t put our best foot forward early, wides were a big problem.

“Credit to the top-order of Students, especially O’Brien and Lambourn, they didn’t do anything unnecessary, they just put away our bad balls and made us pay.

“Would have liked to have kept them to lower than 170, but credit to Old Students.”

On the flip side, with the bat, it was arguably one of Katandra’s better showings of the season.

Shannon said he was pleased the Eagles secured the bonus point given the even nature of the league.

“Really happy with our batting, put our foot down to try and get a bonus point and we were able to do that,” he said.

“(The pitch) had a little bit in it when you hit good lengths, we just weren’t able to do that at all and they were a bit depleted on the bowling front.

“It was one of those pitches where if you got it wrong, you could really put the willow through it and cash in.

“I think there were about 10 sixes for the game and plenty of boundaries.”

With the Eagles on the cusp of a spot in finals, Shannon said young gun Simpson would be key to Katandra’s premiership aspirations.

“Bailey Simpson has really come along, especially with the ball,” he said.

“To add a third spinner (alongside Wright and Andrew Riordan) to push through some overs and that you can rely on to bowl nine tight overs has been a real luxury for us.”