Lachlan cricket juniors fight to final over of Bradman Cup contest

It took Hawkesbury until the final over to run down the 122 it needed for victory in the final of the Highlands District Cricket Association's Bradman Cup against Lachlan Cricket Council's juniors. Winning the toss and batting first Lachlan finished with 9-121 with Jayden Kunn top scoring, making his way to 27 from 35 deliveries before he was run out at the end of the innings in pursuit of more runs. Bill Baldwinson remained not out 16 with Harry Yelland, 18, Callan Venables, 12 and Mac Glasson, 13, also reaching double figures. Hawkesbury lost six overs in their successful run chase, reaching the 122 run target on the first ball of their final over thanks to the efforts of Sanjit Babu, 45, and Aarav Majumdar, 41 not out. Mac Glasson, 2-23 and Billy Baldwinson, 2-16 were the wicket takers with the ball for Lachlan with Mac Glasson picking up the other two wickets to fall with run outs. Lachlan reached the final after wins over Highlands, Bathurst, Dubbo and Hornsby. The Cup victors Hawkesbury inflicted an early round win over Lachlan. The side's first match saw them put on 6-124 to defeat Highlands on day one of the carnival with Harry Yelland top scoring with 49 before the Lachlan bowlers restricted Highlands to 8-76 with Ari Albert best of the bowlers picking up 3-11. In their first match of the second day of the carnival Lachlan scored a nail-biting one run victory over Bathurst off the last ball of the match. The bowling attack performed well with Zac Guy taking 3-13 off 5, Mac Glasson 2-8 off 3 and Max Hazell 2-11 off 4. In reply, Lachlan got off to a get start with Jayden Kuun, 23 and Harry Yelland, 29 combining well to score valuable runs. A middle order collapse created some pressure for the lower order before Eli Heffernan and Max Douglass stood tall to hit the winning runs. The side's second match of day two saw Lachlan take on Hawkesbury at the spirited home of Cricket, Bradman Oval in Bowral. Hawkesbury batted first and posted a very competitive total of 109 off 22 overs. Mac Glasson continued his strong form with the ball collecting 3-15 off 4. Harry Yelland 2-28, Max Hazell 1-9 and Zac Guy 1-20 also added to their wicket tally. Lachlan struggled to score runs early on in their innings, before Zac Guy hit a quick fire 36 not out off 26 balls. Callan Venables and Harry Yelland also made important contributions with both scoring 14 runs. Unfortunately, Lachlan fell short by 12 runs finishing with 8-97 off 22 overs. After two days, Lachlan were sitting with two wins and one loss. Coaches, Pete Yelland and Andrew Glasson emphasised that a massive day of cricket was needed on Wednesday to push for a top two finish and a spot in the final. Lachlan faced off against local rivals Dubbo on day three in the morning, winning the toss and showed no hesitation in batting first. Harry Yelland opened the batting with Callan Venables. Harry scored a very valuable half-century 51 off 73 balls. The Condobolin pairing of Callan and Eli Heffernan showed determination with the bat before Mac Glasson, 24 not out and Zac Guy, 18 not out combined late to lift the run-rate and post a competitive score of 3-118 off 25 overs. All the Lachlan bowlers demonstrated consistency with good line and length bowling on show. Max Hazell 3-15, Zac Guy 2-5, Billy Baldwinson 2-14 and Harry Yelland 1-11 were the wicket takers. Some great fielding also resulted in two run-outs. The Lachlan team, returned to Bradman Oval for the final-round preliminary match against Hornsby Cricket Club needing a win to secure a spot in the grand final. Lachlan were first to bat after winning the toss and Jayden Kuun, 23, got the team off to a great start. Eamon Moody guided the ball around to score 10 runs before, Eli Heffernan, 48 not out and Mac Glasson, 28 not out, showed great skill with an undefeated partnership of 72 runs. In reply, Hornsby started well before Lachlan took wickets at regular intervals. Mac Glasson 3-6 excelled with the ball and received great support from Billy Baldwinson 2-18, Max Hazell 1-16 and Ari Albert 1-6. Wicket-keeper, Eamon Moody continued a strong carnival with the gloves taking several catches and assisting with a run-out.