Senior country week: Bunbury suffer seven-wicket loss to Peel Country in B-section final

Bunbury’s B-section side was the best performed of their lower grade outfits at senior country week, making it through to the final.

Having won each of their three pool stage matches before sealing their place in the decider with a four-wicket victory over Esperance in the semifinal, the side suffered their first loss of the week on the final day, going down to Peel Country by seven wickets.

The Blue Swans batted first but could only manage a score of 127, which the winners needed only 21 overs to chase.

Bunbury had made a circumspect but solid start through Kaelan Skoda and Nic Rep to be 1-64 in the 20th over but Rep’s dismissal for 13 saw them lose 9-63, with only Skoda (44 from 107 balls) offering any sustained resistance.

A rollicking 86-run Peel opening stand at a run rate of nearly eight per over made a certainty of the result.

The semifinal was delicately poised with the Blue Swans positioned at 5-127 in pursuit of Esperance’s score of 216, but a brilliant 83-run sixth wicket partnership between Evan Crowley (43 not out from 55 balls) and Lucas Pedrochi (41 from 55 balls) all but saw them home.

Brady Larsen bowled brilliantly in the first innings, claiming figures of 4-29 from his seven overs.

Blaze Rosinski was the side’s standout performer over the course of the week, finishing as the division’s leading wicket-taker with 15 at an average of 7.53 while also scoring 83 runs.

The D-section side finished the pool stage in second place after winning two of their three games but suffered a 41-run loss to West Pilbara in their semifinal.

Despite a brilliant all-round effort from Stewart Hayward, who took 3-35 from 10 overs with the ball before making 88 with the bat, the winners were able to make a score of 9-219 and limit Bunbury to 9-178.

The performance capped a standout week for Hayward, who made 234 runs at an average of 58.5 to finish as the division’s leading run-scorer.

The C-section team went through the week without a win, suffering losses to Northam by 55 runs and Warren Blackwood by nine wickets on the final two days.

Nayte Charles was the team’s top run-scorer with 94, while Ty Verhaaf was the best of the bowlers with eight wickets.

In E-section, the Blue Swans failed to make the finals but did close out their week in winning fashion by beating Warren Blackwood by eight wickets on Friday.

Tarkyn Bickley (11 wickets) and Luke Brown (110 runs) were the side’s leading performers.