A BIG Saturday of cricket in Harden delivered mixed results as A Grade sealed a memorable win but B Grade endured their first loss.
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A Grade hosted Yass Snipers on Tim Doolan Oval and batted their overs to post a competitive 159.
Nathan Schofield was the top scorer with 51, while Martin Brown (34) and Matt Schofield (32) were also key contributors with the bat.
The Snipers got stuck in and looked on target until Martin Brown turned the match with a diving catch at mid-on to dismiss key batsman Craig Irwin.
Martin took two wickets and Billy Bolger snared three. An impressive overhead catch from Matt finally dismissed David Field (72).
The match came right down to the final over as Harden bowled the visitors for 152 to secure a memorable victory.
Meanwhile on Roberts Park, the B Grade team went down to last year’s premiers Yass Horns for their first loss of the season.
The assignment was always going to be tough for the young Harden side with further unavailabilities compounding those already away with harvest.
The day started poorly for the hosts when they lost key batsmen Kelvin Brown and Jeff Brown for ducks.
When Marty Smith was also bowled for a duck, Harden had struggled to 3/11 and a paltry total looked the order of the day.
Nigel Karunaratne and Todd Spackman consolidated the innings with a strong partnership.
Horns frustration with the partnership started to show when a barrage of short pitch bowling to Karunaratne succeeded in knocking his helmet off his head. He was eventually caught for a well-made 15.
Spackman remained as the anchor and put some handy partnerships together. When finally bowled for a well-made 27 it was left to some big hitting from Luke Brown (7) to get Harden up to 97.
Yass Horns made their intention clear from the start that they were going to chance their arm by swinging hard and hitting big.
Jeff Brown got the first breakthrough when he clean bowled Alan Kennedy (15) in the fifth over, but the damage had already been done at 1/31.
Luke Brown got the only other wicket when he had Andy Greenwood caught by Sam Brett for 33. Sam impressed in his first game of cricket ever, due to Harden being short and pressure applied by potential father-in-law Todd Spackman.
Horns cruised to the required total in the twelfth over allowing an early finish to the day with the majority of the team heading up to support the A Grade.
