Numurkah Leader
Blues lose, but still in flag race
2 min read

FINISHING top of the ladder has proven to have its positives, after Numurkah was soundly beaten by 107 runs when it took on sixth placed Nagambie in its Haisman Shield A grade cricket match on the weekend. Despite the loss, the Blues are still in the hunt to defend their title.

The Blues hosted Nagambie in the qualifying final and, after losing the toss, were sent in to field.

Nagambie’s openers began well, moving the score along to 49 before Shaun Downie struck with his first wicket. He then removed the other opener five runs later, to have Nagambie at 2/54.

Nagambie’s Nolan brothers, Mark and Luke, dug in and set about building a partnership, and managed to put on 140 runs, before Michael Eckard bowled Mark Nolan for 89.

Eckard struck two balls later to capture his second wicket, and Nagambie was 4/194.

Late hitting by Nagambie saw it reach 267 off its allotted 80 overs, the last two wickets for the Blues being a result of run outs.

Shaun Downie, 2/56 off 21 overs, and Michael Eckard, 2/65 off 15 overs, were the sole wicket takers for the Blues.

“Nagambie batted well and played good cricket, we missed a few chances and that didn’t help,” Numurkah captain, Liam Gledhill said.
Hunting a big total, the Blues began their run chase on Sunday well, with Matt Price and Will Arnel putting on 40 runs before Price was trapped LBW for 13.

Dylan Grandell joined Arnel at the crease, and the two left handers added another 13 before Arnel was out for 33.

Shaun Downie and Grandell knuckled down and set about things in a positive fashion, lifting the run rate, and putting on 62 runs together before Downie was out, bowled, for 28.

Twelve runs later Grandell was out for 50, and the Blues were 4/127 after 42 overs.

Needing a further 141 runs off 38 overs, the Blues lost Gledhill (4) and Eckard (20) to be 6/160, with the tail left to bat.

Unfortunately, the Blues lost their final four wickets for four runs, and were all out for 164, a batting collapse that saw Numurkah lose its last eight wickets for 49 runs.

“I thought we still had the game in hand when we went to the tea break, however it was disappointing that we fell away after tea,” Gledhill said.

“It’s a cut throat game and you can’t have lapses in concentration as we did on the weekend.

“Nagambie had nothing to lose and everything to gain and played the better cricket on the weekend, any one of the finalists have a chance to win the premiership this year, it’s such an even competition.

“We will go back to basics, play our natural style of game and hopefully come away with the win this week.”

The Blues will look to put the loss behind them this week, when they take on Mooroopna at Mooroopna in their semi final clash beginning at 12.30pm.