REIGNING junior premiers Boort Yando has started the new cricket season with a comfortable win over the Bridgewater Bulls in a one-day clash. 
Cooper Gooding began where he left off in 2024-2025, hitting 34 off 23 balls, with three fours and three sixes, before retiring not out.
Along with Jake O’Flaherty (28 off 26 balls with three sixes), who also retired without being dismissed, he helped the Magpies to 3-126 off 27 overs.
Boort Yando won the toss and chose to bowl, which proved a good decision when the Bulls tumbled to 4-18 in the 10th over.
However, Jenson Birthisel, who compiled a steady 16 off 42 balls, and Ned Wickham (retired not out on 30 off 44 balls) sparked a recovery with a 63-run partnership that ultimately took the team to 6-92 off 27 overs.
Owen Byrne took 2-11 from five overs for the Magpies and O’Flaherty bowled three overs in taking 2-10.
When Luke Boyd fell for one off 19 balls, Boort Yando was 1-7, but the next wicket didn’t fall until the team had scored 103 runs, with four players retiring not out.
Initially scheduled as a two-day game, the match was changed to a one-dayer when the Bulls said they would not be able to field a team on the second day.
WICKETS tumbled quickly in the Kingower-Wedderburn Band two-day match.
Kingower batted first and could manage just 58 all out, with extras providing almost half of that score. But when Wedderburn took to the crease, the Band could scrape up only 18 runs, with 11 of those extras. Only one player reached double figures for the day, with Riley Murphy hitting 14, including three fours, for Kingower, batting at number nine.
The next best was Flynn Lonza, who made seven. Fourteen no balls, seven wides and six byes helped boost the total.
Seven players made ducks for Wedderburn, with Blaz Cramp’s four runs the best as the Band totalled only seven runs off the bat.
Throw in three no balls, eight wides and one bye and Wedderburn staggered to 18 all out from 16.2 overs.
Morgan Lonza took 3-7 from five overs and Riley Leach snared 2-3. For Wedderburn, Blaz Cramp took 4-15 from 9.3 overs.
The game resumes on Saturday with Kingower to bat a second time, already leading by 40 runs.