Mt Barker jump to third on the Albany and Districts Junior Cricket Association under-14s ladder with tense win

Mt Barker jumped to third on the Albany and Districts Junior Cricket Association under-14s ladder as they prevailed in a thriller over Blues at Turf East on Saturday morning. The Bulls leapfrogged the Blues into third place on the back of their one-wicket victory in round 10. The Blues set the Bulls 90 for victory and scraped home with one wicket to spare to notch their fifth win of the season. Jared Ballard and Maxwell Wright guided their side to victory as they both retired and came back to complete the run chase. The Bulls were 2-19 early in the run chase but Ballard and Wright steadied the ship before retiring. Ryan Bedford was the next batter to be dismissed and the Bulls collapsed, losing 6-26. Axle Pearce made 16 but batters fell around him and when he was dismissed his side was 8-75 with the game in the balance. Ballard came back to the crease to join Bradley Scherell and they added a vital 15-run partnership to secure victory for their side. After securing victory Scherell was bowled by Max Robinson, bringing Wright back to the crease. Ballard finished unbeaten on 23 off 49 while Wright made 19 not out off 49 balls as the Bulls posted 9-96 in reply. Fraser Syme snared 2-8 off three overs for Blues but it wasn’t enough to get his side over the line. Earlier on the Blues posted 8-89 with Hayden Leo (14 not out) and Harrison McLeod (10) the only batters to reach double figures. Darcy Roberts was superb with the ball for Bulls with 3-9 off three overs and Libby Morris took 2-13. Warriors edged closer to top spot after knocking off ladder leaders Redbacks by 80 runs at Turf South to hand the latter their first loss of the season. Redbacks batted first and could only manage 87 off 21.5 overs, with Jacobus Swart (3-6 off three), Buddy Robinson (2-6 off three) and Caelen Lambe (2-10) doing the damage with the ball for Warriors. Oliver Douglas made Redbacks’ total look respectable as he finished unbeaten on 42. In reply, Warriors passed the total one wicket down before going on to make 167. Buddy Robinson starred with 60 off 40 balls, while Lambe made 23 not out and Davey Wignall added 18. Jayden Wood (1-13), Rowan Webster (2-14), Philip Moody (2-18) and Hudson Ramm (2-35) were the multiple wicket takers for Redbacks in their first defeat. The game between Denmark and Kings was not played due to the bushfires in Denmark.