It’s a pretty tight comp, anyone can win on the day.
- Andrew Creamer
DEDERANG has eclipsed all expectations and will enter the New Year on top of the District ladder.
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A super ton from captain Andrew Creamer, who now has several on his CV, helped the club record a four-wicket win away to third-placed Kiewa on Saturday.
Creamer, who now has 342 runs at an average of 48.86, said the club was happy with its start to the season but would be keeping a lid on expectations.
“We would have taken just being in the finals,” Creamer admitted.
“We’ve polished our game a bit more.
“We are a bit more well-rounded this year.
“We’ll just aim for finals at this stage and see how we go.
“We are confident with how we are going at the moment.
“It’s a pretty tight comp, anyone can win on the day.”
Chasing 251 in the last round before Christmas, Dederang lost keeper Mark Nichol (six) and Luke Deans (three) early.
But Creamer and Corey Jones put on a defining 59-run partnership.
Jones departed for 41, but Dederang didn’t miss a beat, with Creamer smashing 117 before he was run out by Ash Sutherland.
Chris Beard and Blake Nikolic also contributed, as Dederang finished its 70 overs at 7-254.
Ryan de Vries (2-40) and Jacob Barber (2-89) toiled hard with the ball for Kiewa in difficult conditions.
“Ryan de Vries was blowing a bit and it probably helped us with them bowling four or five over spells,” Creamer, 28, said.
“Our plan was to just be a couple of wickets down at tea.
“We just wanted to set ourselves up to score a few after tea to make it easier.
“We had some good solid partnerships through the innings.
“We didn’t have a flow of wickets so that helped us maintain good momentum through the day.”
Elsewhere, Barnawartha-Chiltern has pulled off a memorable home win against Mount Beauty.
Chasing 175, the Miners resumed their first innings delicately placed at 3-28.
But the middle order quickly set the tone for a strong run chase, with Carl Walton (44), Chris Anderson (43) and Chris Hartshorn (32) helping the home team finish all out for 193.
Star Mount Beauty all-rounder Ashan Ranaweera was outstanding with the ball, taking a team-best 4-66.
He bowled a mammoth 22 overs in the heat, a spell that included seven maidens.
Ethan Brown also chipped in with 3-54 from a whopping 27 overs.
Eskdale’s Liam Tobin has helped his side defeat Baranduda by just 28 runs at Eskdale.
Tobin took 3-55 from 16.5 overs to help restrict the visitors to 153, chasing 181.
Star all-rounder Aidan Ryan was outstanding with the bat for Baranduda, but his 60 wasn’t enough to get it over the line.
In other games, Yackandandah defeated Howlong outright and Wodonga defeated Bethanga by 79 runs.
District cricket resumes back on January 9.