Katandra off to winning Haisman Shield title defence

Oct 8, 2023

Backing it up: Jedd Wright’s Katandra side has picked up where it left off from its title-winning 2022-23 campaign. Photo by Aydin Payne

Star recruit Ben Pedretti has hit the ground running with his side’s top score as Katandra started its Haisman Shield premiership defence on the right foot.

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Having crossed over from Northerners for the 2023-24 campaign, Pedretti racked up a patient 46 and was instrumental in keeping Katandra on pace to beat Tatura’s 139 as early partnerships faltered in the run chase before eventually prevailing by four wickets at Howley Oval.

THE GAME

Katandra 6-140 (B. Pedretti 46, H. Sirett 25*) d Tatura 139 (J. Armstrong 51, B. Holmes 4-20)

STAR PLAYER

Jayden Armstrong (Tatura): A true captain’s performance in defeat from Armstrong, notching the half-century that kept Tatura competitive and taking the wickets of both Katandra openers, albeit in vain.

Tatura would set the total to beat and looked to be in enormous trouble after its middle order was rapidly dissolved, falling from 2-38 to 6-63 as Ben Holmes tore through the side with four wickets.

Tatura skipper Jayden Armstrong played a starring all-round role in a losing side, though, steering the troubled Tatura line-up to a much more respectable 139 all out with a crucial half-century.

Pedretti saw two partnerships end before Katandra had double digits on the board, but found the boundary four times and powered on to 46 off 90 balls before being knocked over by Armstrong just after his team brought up the century.

Hadleigh Sirett also found his moments with bat and ball, picking up the final two Tatura scalps in five balls and swinging hard towards an unbeaten 25 (four boundaries) to bring Katandra home.

Victorious co-captain Jedd Wright, retired for a duck early in the chase, was always confident in his side’s depth.

“In the first round you’re just happy with a win,” Wright said.

“(Tatura) probably got 40 or 50 runs more than we would have liked and we bowled well, but they batted well too.

“We’ve got a strong batting line-up and our top four has licence to bat however they want, if they go aggressive or whatever it might be.”

Wright also praised the output of his new opening batsman, highlighting the middle order’s efforts in correcting course after Katandra’s early trouble.

“Ben (Pedretti) batted beautifully, but the best part of our team is we don’t rely on one, two or three players,” Wright said.

“We look for Ben to play his role, which is to take the shine off the ball, but we bat down to number 10 or 11.

“(The win) really shows the depth we’ve got with two or three players still to come back into the side.”