Cricket is a fickle beast and the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield has thrown some surprises at us in season 2023-24.
At last, though, finals cricket is upon us after a frantic final day when the live ladder changed innumerable times, with Kyabram pulling off the great escape at Numurkah’s expense.
Waaia cemented its place as minor premier well in advance, but the dogfight unfolding beneath the high-flying Bombers landed Nagambie as the sixth-placed qualifier.
These two sides battled in a one-dayer at Waaia Recreation Reserve in round four, but there was hardly a contest in their late October meeting.
Nagambie will need to count on a drastically different showing after sending the Bombers in, only to concede two half-centuries to their top order.
A balanced bowling effort yielded fruit for most of Nagambie’s rotation, but Brayden Carey (67) and Reinhardt Engler (63) did the damage as Waaia wrapped up with 210 on the board.
In response, there was never much in the way of momentum, with the Lakers falling to a meagre 6-51 once skipper Mark Nolan returned to the sheds.
Jesse Trower imposingly announced himself on the scene with a four-wicket haul as his Bombers kept their unbeaten start to the season alive in a dominant 102-run win.
Nagambie will undoubtedly take its share of confidence into the game, having been another of three sides with an assured finals place before slipping up against Katandra.
The Lakers’ batting line-up has maintained a tendency to misfire, though, and cannot afford for Trower and friends to dine out at their expense again.
Next is a do-or-die meeting at Deakin Reserve between Central Park-St Brendan’s and Katandra — a rematch of last year’s decider.
The reigning premier had a more than adequate tune-up last time out with a thumping win over Nagambie that essentially served as batting practice.
The story could hardly have been more opposite for Central Park, which scraped home by the skin of its teeth in a classic comeback win over Numurkah that had the Blues falling agonisingly short of finals.
Fortunes starkly contrasted in their last head-to-head meeting in round five as well, with a then-unbeaten Katandra side put right against the wall early after batting first.
Jarrod Wakeling reliably led the line as always at Katandra Recreation Reserve on that November afternoon, collecting four scalps as the Eagles fell to 138 all out despite a spirited final-wicket stand involving Ryleigh Shannon.
As the Tigers became well-accustomed to doing this season, they chased in reasonably handy fashion, despite Katandra keeping a lid on openers Andrew Cowen and Ryan Ash.
An unbeaten 55 from Ethan Baxter proved too much to overcome as the Tigers sauntered to a seven-wicket triumph, emphatically bringing the Eagles back to earth ahead of their bye.
Katandra missed skipper Jedd Wright that day and will look to him as a difference-maker against a Central Park side that powerfully displayed its tenacity last weekend.
That same day, we witnessed a contest almost the polar opposite to how events played out at Katandra.
Mooroopna Recreation Reserve had one for the ages as the Cats played host to Kyabram, as they will do again this weekend in an elimination final.
Mooroopna, all but stranded in second place, had a casual hit-out against eliminated Northerners in its final regular-season game, running up a satisfying score after a superb bowling display on day one.
Kyabram needed more than one thing to go right for just a sniff at finals — it needed 16.
It was the bowlers’ big day out and the Redbacks nabbed the outright win they needed with just minutes to spare against a gallant Karramomus to claim fifth spot.
Frankly, the only game this season wilder than the Redbacks’ mission impossible over the past fortnight might have been its heartbreaking defeat to Mooroopna in November.
Paul Parsons (90) and Kyle Mueller (46) looked well-placed to bring about the win Kyabram desperately sought after one win and three losses with a century partnership.
Momentum shifted quickly following both departures as Mooroopna would find itself perfectly content to chase 205 for victory.
Matt Price became the focal point with a thrilling 88 that so nearly saw him through to a gritty conclusion, only for Billy McLay to knock the bails off four runs short of the total.
In perhaps the most memorable cameo across the season, Luke Zanchetta came in at 11 with two balls left, sending his one and only delivery to the rope and securing the win in a nail-biter.
Though an observer on the day, Cats skipper Jack Gaskill recalls it well.
“(Kyabram was) looking to get 250 to 300 at one point, but our bowlers pulled it back really well,” Gaskill said.
“Matt Price put in his best batting performance of the year. He batted really well with the younger boys in the lower order.
“It was a massive effort from Aaron Di Fede and Luke Zanchetta to do it at 10 and 11.
“Points before Christmas are an absolute must and banking as many as you can holds you in good stead for finals.”
It certainly did in Mooroopna’s case, as this became the second in a season-defining six-game winning run that carried through the festive break.
That said, a raft of personnel changes makes this weekend a different proposition to that November encounter.
“Obviously I come in this time, but Henry Barrow wasn't playing then either and he's probably our strike bowler,” Gaskill said.
“Aaron didn’t bowl in our last game, Riley (Moon) is injured and Joel (May) hasn’t bowled as much since Christmas, so our attack will look completely different.
“We feel like we can play our best cricket at home, but they’ve got a good batting side and we’ve got a good bowling side.
“Regardless of whether you finish sixth or first, anyone can beat anyone in finals.”