Sport
20 March, 2026
Band swings winning medley
WEDDERBURN has snapped its Upper Loddon Cricket Association grand final hoodoo.
More than a decade after the Band’s last flag, Wedderburn stood firm and tall to claim the premiership over Kingower at Boort on Saturday.
The run of grand final losses and missing out on a flag when rain dashed hopes against Bridghewater fours years ago, seized honours when 16 balls to spare.
Tailender Matt Lockhart was the hero, smacking two fours in succession from Ben Rose’s first two balls of the 38th over to reach 8-135.
It was a low-scoring affair at Boort, with the well-grassed outfield predictably slow – twos were in short supply as the ball tended to pull up swiftly.
Wedderburn won the toss and bowled, restricting Kingower’s strong batting lineup to 134 all out from 39.2 overs.
A 51-run opening partnership promised a big score, but the Band chipped away and a late collapse kept Kingower to a modest total.
Opener Will Deason hit two sixes but only one four in his 33 from 45 balls, indicative of the need to go aerial if players wanted full value for their shots.
Gower skipper Matt Rowe top scored with 46 from 104 balls faced, also hitting just a single four and two sixes.
His front-foot style wasn’t ideally suited to such outfield conditions, and he was suffering after illness kept him in bed for much of the week, during which he lost about five kilograms.
That predicament would be amplified when it was Kingower’s time to bowl.
Wickets fell steadily after the opening stand, with Wedderburn bowling tightly and fielding at times brilliantly.
Rowe was fourth out with the score on 95 after Kyle Simpson and Blake Pickles fell cheaply, and after his departure only David Rose’s rapid 27 from 17 deliveries, with two fours and two sixes, dragged the Gower to a competitive total.
The last seven wickets fell for just 39 runs as the Band’s bowlers all contributed.
Adam Postle, Will Holt, Isaac Holt and Sam Carroll took two wickets each, with Steve Giorlando and Luke Holt picking up one apiece.
Kingower’s 134 – with just six boundaries to go with six sixes – seemed below par, especially with Rowe’s bowling to be restricted.
The first wicket put on 21 before Finn Turnbull was out for a duck after facing 32 deliveries.
Fellow opener Giorlando fell on the same score for 17 before Luke and Isaac Holt put on a steady 41-run partnership.
But just when Wedderburn looked to be in control, with Isaac Holt batting beautifully, the Band lost 3-12, including their two most potent batsmen, Will Holt and Andrew Brett. Sam Carroll joined Isaac Holt and added 31 runs before Holt was out for 50 from 69 balls.
When Carroll’s 17 ended with the score on 115, the Band still needed 20 runs for victory with just two wickets left. Lockhart and Postle decided attack was the best form of defence, with first the veteran Postle hitting a rare boundary and then Lockhart splitting the field with his two fours that saw Wedderburn home, to scenes of jubilation as the Band players swamped the unbeaten batsmen.
Mark Lamprell was the best of the Kingower bowlers with 2-17 from his eight overs including two maidens, while Pickles claimed 2-33.
Ben Rose’s figures of 2-42 blew out when he conceded three fours in his last 2.2 overs. Rowe could only bowl three typically tight overs for five runs.
Isaac Holt was player of the match for his all-round performance and with co-captain Will Holt was able to raise the shield and cup celebrating Wedderburn’s first premiership since 2012-13. The drought was broken.
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