WODONGA batsman Nick Beattie smashed a six off the final delivery to hand the Bulldogs a thrilling one-wicket victory over Tallangatta in their Cricket Albury-Wodonga Provincial clash at Rowen Park on Saturday.
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With the scores locked with four balls remaining, Beattie timed his run to perfection by cooly smashing the last ball of the match into the construction site over the mid-wicket fence.
They needed nine runs off the final over with only one wicket in hand.
“It was a finals type game of cricket and the boys did a great job under pressure,” skipper Robbie Jackson said.
“We were really keen to win as the St Pat’s loss has been sticking in the bottom of our guts for a long time.
“Dylan and Nick (Beattie) and BJ (Garvey) batted really well.
“The pressure was on them and they responded.”
Wodonga’s formidable top-order of Trent Ball (35), Jackson (75) and James Tonkin (44) put the Bulldogs in a good position to chase down Tallangatta’s score of 9-267 before Tallangatta spinners Andrew Lade and Mat Armstrong brought the home team back into the match with some tight bowling.
Lade was sensational grabbing 5-77 off 20 overs while Armstrong proved equally as effective taking 2-62 off 24.2 overs.
“Either side could have won it late in the day, but I thought we let Tallangatta back into the game after tea by allowing their spinners to dictate,” Jackson said.
“It was important for us to chase down a good score and show we have learnt from the St Pat’s game.
“We batted out the 80 overs and that was always going to be crucial.”
Wodonga’s win wasn’t enough to grab top spot after East Albury thrashed Lavington at Alexandra Park.
After making 5-338 last weekend, the Crows bundled their opponents out for 92 with underrated quick Cameron White turning in a matchwinning performance.
White had Michael Galvin and Mick Howard back in the shed within the opening 15 minutes and went on to claim the excellent figures of 5-24 with support coming from Tom Wells (4-18).
East Albury and Lavington agreed to play on in the heat with the Panthers finishing at 7-241 after following on.
Howard led the second innings fight with 74 while Tom Hargreave (41), Nathan Brown (37), Josh Jones (27) and Andrew Mackinlay (25) also turned in vastly improved performances.