Home Hill Cricket Association hosted Bowen Cricket last Sunday, November 26 for an inter-town representative match with bragging rights coming down to the final wicket.
The match reignited a rivalry between the two towns, with excellent play on both sides.
The Sunday fixture between Home Hill and Bowen saw the visitors win the toss and elect to bat.
Bowen’s top order got the work done early with high scorers Dylan Pettingill scoring 33 runs, Michael Pettiford scoring 31, Lachlan Altmann scoring 18, Mark Coventry scoring 13 and Daniel Borgh scoring 11, helping the team to a total of 153 all out after 38 overs.
Some fine bowling from Home Hill’s Andrew Cardillo saw him take four wickets for 37 runs from seven overs, supported by Alex Stillhard’s 2/27 from five, Darcy Walters’ 1/15 from five, Ross Parker’s 1/16 from five and Simon Vickers’ 1/27 from eight, with a run out helping clean up the visiting batsmen.
Chasing 154 runs for victory, Home Hill were off to a shaky start at 4/29 before the middle order steadied the ship thanks to Hugh Smith’s 48 not out, Ross Parker’s 34, Ayden Marano’s 18 and Andrew Cardillo’s 11.
Home Hill lost their ninth wicket with just four runs to make, the winning runs coming from fortuitous byes in the 38th over.
Bowen bowlers Dylan Pettingill (4/24), Seth McIntosh (3/17), Mark Coventry (1/12) and Lachlan Altmann (1/25) took the game right down to the wire, with Home Hill ultimately winning by one wicket.
Bowen versus Home Hill saw a lengthly game of wits, courage, and determination. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie