Rendelsham 5/144 def. Millicent Black Hats 8/143
Veteran Rendelsham all-rounder Tyson Smith smashed 29 runs off the penultimate over to ensure his home team lowered the colours of the ladder leaders Millicent Black Hats on Saturday in round 13 of the Millicent Naracoorte Cricket Association.
The chances of success looked bleak for the home team at the end of the 38th over as they needed a further 31 runs to reach the target of 144 with only 12 deliveries remaining.
Rendelsham did have Smith at the crease and he had already scored a handy 30 runs at a rate of one per ball.
The Millicent Black Hats had held their strike bowler Jaxon Cushion in reserve and he was tossed the ball for the 39th over by his skipper Mitchell Nitschke.
Smith proceeded to belt the first Cushion delivery over the deep mid-wicket boundary and it landed in front of the licensed clubrooms where a raucous crowd had gathered.
The all-rounder then repeated the productive boundary-clearing pull shot on a further three occasions and also a four.
Cushion managed one dot ball and there was also a no-ball.
The scores were tied when Smith took a single off the last ball of the Cushion over and kept the strike.
He immediately took another single when Ellis Cushion bowled the 40th over.
His remarkable innings capped off a topsy-turvy week of cricket for Smith.
He had represented the Tatiara Cricket Association in the annual Country Carnival competition in Adelaide and made scores of 0 (run out) and 78.
Saturday’s game was played at the same venue as the 2023/24 grand final where the Millicent Black Hats had defeated Rendelsham by nine wickets.
The toss on Saturday was lost for the fourth consecutive match by Rendelsham skipper Ayden Reid.
The visiting skipper Mitchell Nitschke had no hesitation in electing to bat and his side posted a creditable tally off 8/143 off their 40 overs.
The main contributors were Cambell Hateley (20), Teej Lawlor (30), Jacob Todd (25) and Jaxon Cushion (25) while the best of the bowlers was Reid with 3/34.
The score was not going to be easy to achieve as Rendelsham was without three of its top batsmen: Dylan Clough (injured) and Jake Wight and Mitch Pulmer (unavailable).
Rendelsham made big inroads on the target thanks to opener Ethan Bowman with 29 along with Reid with 23.
At one stage, Rendelsham was cruising at 2/89.
Alex Wesolowski was the eighth bowler used by the Millicent Black Hats and he had immediate success.
He dismissed Bowman, James Thorn (0) and Billy Cattanach (3) in the space of four deliveries.
Such a performance looked like turning the game in favour of the Millicent Black Hats but Smith stole the show.
Lucindale 9/143 def. Mount Burr 10/139
It was a long drive home from Lucindale for the Mount Burr cricketers as they fell agonisingly shorty in another Millicent Naracoorte Cricket Association match with a nail-biting finish.
Incomplete scores have been published online but it appears Lucindale overtook the 139-run target with the last pair at the crease and only a handful of deliveries to come.
The Mount Burr innings was dominated by Steve Hughes with a fine knock of 53.
In reply, seven of the Lucindale batsmen reached double figures with Daniel McCarthy top-scoring with 32.
Veterans Adrian Thompson (four wickets) and Nathan Muhovics (three) almost bowled Mount Burr to victory.
Naracoorte Warriors 2/105 defeated Naracoorte Townies 10/104
Meanwhile at Wortley Oval, the Naracoorte Townies were dismissed for 104.
The Naracoorte Warriors only lost two wickets in the run chase with Kieron Hicks making 69.
This victory lifted them into fourth place at the expense of Mount Burr.
There are also rumours circulating of the two Naracoorte teams joining forces for the 2025/26 season.
