Brunswick Cricket Club Craig Shield - Quarter and Semi-Final

After two losses in week 2, Brunswick’s finals prospects looked a little shaky in the Craig Shield. But with Plenty Valley losing narrowly to St Bernard’s, Brunswick qualified for the Craig Shield quarter finals, finishing in the North Group on “quotient” behind Coburg thanks to strong results in week 1.

By finishing second, we headed to Yarraville to play the top-ranked team in the west. Yarraville were previously undefeated so we knew they would be strong opponents.

The ball is a blur, but the pathway to the Craig Shield grand final is clear.

Quarter Final - Yarraville away

Yarraville won the toss and batted first on what looked to be a decent batting deck. But the gloom of smoke haze and cloud meant batting conditions were not ideal. Brunswick’s bowling started well, with Jonty striking in his first over (1/0). He and Ben kept the scoring rate under some control and each snared a further wicket; 3/33 after 10 overs had Brunswick in front of the game.

While 3/33 was a good start for Brunswick, Yarraville were building a partnership between Tathira, who had opened, and Soham at number 5. However, a pull from Soham taken at chest height by Prateek at square leg gave Brunswick some momentum (4/60). A further partnership ensued with Sashwat batting well, until Finn struck by inducing Tathira to slice a catch to backward point (5/95). From there, some small to moderate partnerships got Yarraville to a competitive 10/171 with the tenth wicket falling in the final over.

Brunswick’s chase began well with Angus scoring a brisk 20. His departure brought Flynn to the crease to join Abhik. Our two leading scorers in the competition got to work against good bowling. While scoring was not easy, the required run rate never got out of control, with the pair putting on a valuable stand of 92 before Flynn was run out. Prateek and Abhik soon followed (4/132). Gurmann then partnered with Jude and some rapid scoring by both got Brunswick close to the total with overs to spare. Gurmann was run out when scores were almost level (5/169), but Jude hit a four off the next ball to secure the win. It was a very well-composed run chase by Brunswick.

Result: Brunswick 5/173 defeated Yarraville 10/171 by five wickets

Leading numbers

Wickets: Jonty 3/28; Jude 3/45; Ben 2/24; Finn 1/18; Cale 1/24. Runout: Gus/Finn

Batting: Abhik 73; Jude 27*; Flynn 26; Angus 20; Gurmann 14

Semi Final - Coburg away

Coburg defeated Melton in their quarter final, so Brunswick headed back to City Oval with Coburg seeking to reverse the round robin match from a couple of weeks earlier. Due to the heat on the scheduled day, the Semi Final had been postponed to the following Sunday.

Coburg won the toss and sent Brunswick in. Gus again got Brunswick off to a brisk start, but with Abhik falling and then Gus too, the game was back to level pegging (2/31). Then a 29-run partnership between Gurmann and Flynn (3/60) and a further 37 runs between Jude and Flynn (4/97) had Brunswick in front. With Prateek being adjudged LBW (5/100), a partnership between Flynn and Hamish took Brunswick to a strong position (6/173) before Hamish and Ben helped put the icing on a strong total of 6/179.

Set 180 runs to win – exactly 4 runs per over – Coburg faced a challenging though not insurmountable target. Brunswick’s opening bowlers applied pressure, particularly Jonty with a spell of 0/7 from his 5 overs. Then two bowling changes brought wickets, with Jude getting an edge to Abhik at slip from his first ball (1/18), and Ben nipping one back into the stumps with his second ball (2/28). Ben again hit the stumps in his second over to put Brunswick in front (3/34).

A nick to first slip, with Abhik about to snaffle it.

Coburg's fourth wicket partnership put on 30 runs before both batters went in quick succession. Jed featured in both dismissals with a run out after 5 dot balls from Gurmann’s first over, and then getting an edge to Hammer in the next over two balls into his own bowling spell. From there (5/64), Coburg’s largest partnership was 7 runs, and the result was achieved relatively quickly.

With Oakleigh defeating Brighton in the other semi, Brunswick were heading to the south east in a week’s time for a chance of winning the tournament. What's in store for Brunswick Cricket Club Craig Shield in 2026? We'll report on that shortly...

Result: Brunswick 6/179 defeated by Coburg 10/92 by 87 runs

Leading numbers

Wickets: Jed 2/11; Jude 2/12; Ben 2/14; Gurmann 1/5; Abhik 1/5. Runouts: Jed/Hammer and Jude/Gurmann

Batting: Flynn 85; Hamish 21*; Gus 19; Gurmann 14

A good throw and a good take = run out

Thanks to Jason Sefton for the photos!