The man of the moment: Nagambie's Mitch Winter-Irving.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Winter arrived early in the Goulburn Valley on Saturday.
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Nagambie's Mitch Winter-Irving produced a batting master class in the first round of Cricket Shepparton’s Haisman Shield finals.
On a home deck known for its bowler-friendly conditions, the number four batter came in and produced one of his best knocks with the willow to steer his side to a stirring victory over Katandra.
The host won the toss and elected to bat first during the first day’s play at Nagambie Recreation Reserve.
Katandra started strong with the ball, claiming two early scalps to place Nagambie on the backfoot.
With the score on 3-50, Lakers captain Mark Nolan strolled to the crease and adjusted to the playing conditions immediately.
Nolan and Winter-Irving produced a 134-run partnership before the former departed for a well-made 72 runs off 123 deliveries.
Katandra’s own veteran all-rounder Jedd Wright was his side’s best with Kookaburra in hand.
The Lightfoot medallist claimed 5-63 from 16.4 overs as the wily star got the ball to rip and grip on the Nagambie surface.
However, Winter-Irving was by far the star of the first day's play.
He struck 100 runs from 189 balls to guide the Lakers to a commanding first innings total of 257.
Winter-Irving hit 10 boundaries before Wright dismissed him shortly after raising the bat for a second time.
Against Katandra’s strong bowling attack, Winter-Irving and Nolan survived the storm of outswingers and wrong-uns to produce arguably their best knocks of the summer.
It was Winter-Irving’s second ton and Nolan’s second-highest score of their respective seasons.
Corey Hickford (2-49 from 20 overs), Seth Westley (1-40 from 12), Andrew Riordan (1-38 from nine) and Ben Clurey (1-10 from four) were the other wicket-takers for the Eagles.
Katandra’s response got off to a shaky start as opener Clurey departed early thanks to a Nolan jaffa.
Nolan then doubled and tripled down on the Eagles’ pain a couple of overs later as he snicked off Stephen Barrett before producing of carbon copy of his first wicket to dismiss Brady Black.
The Eagles’ hopes of securing a memorable chase quickly faded as Katandra fell to 3-19 in the baking Nagambie heat.
Nolan’s influence on the contest didn’t slow or temper as the star all-rounder proceeded to claim the next three wickets to bring Katandra to its knees at 6-55, trailing by 202 runs.
As the match approached tea, Nagambie refused to take its foot off Katandra’s throat thanks to Nolan.
The gun all-rounder took the first seven wickets of the innings — the eighth was a run out off Nolan’s bowling.
Katandra offered some, but not much, resistance before being bowled out for 122 with Hadleigh Sirett finishing on 41 not out from 82 deliveries.
The Eagles are now eliminated from the A-grade finals series, with the Lakers heading into week two full of confidence after their demolition job at home.
Mark Nolan (Nagambie): The Lakers’ skipper could not have done much more for his side. After an impressive 72 in the first innings, Nolan backed up his effort with some scintillating bowling. With his usual metronomic line and length, Nolan became nightmare fuel for the Eagles as he snared 7-43. An ominous warning to the three other remaining A-grade sides.
