UGSCA 2025-26: Joyce the star of the short-handed show as the nine men of Lake Grace claim win over Cuballing

Kalan Joyce was the star of the show, following up a five-wicket haul with an unbeaten knock of 27 to give Lake Grace victory over Cuballing in round one of the Upper Great Southern Cricket Association A-grade season. The six-wicket win came despite having only nine players, with Cuballing also short after fielding 10. Cuballing won the toss and elected to bat and were promptly in dire straits, opener Byron Blevin going for a duck with only one run on the board. No.3 Joe Dowling followed soon after, again for a duck, after facing only three balls. Johannes de Bruyn and Andrew Harris managed to get to a total of 20 before Harris became Joyce’s first victim and the tail of woe ended when they were all out at 9-44. Harris and Michael Moore top-scored with nine runs apiece. Joyce’s five wickets came at a cost of just 12 runs, while Brayden Reynolds grabbed 4-18. The Lake Grace reply was little better and, but for Joyce’s unbeaten 27 off 37 balls, they might have been in trouble themselves. Reuben Smith chipped in with eight while Reynolds was unbeaten on eight as the win was sealed in just 16 overs. De Bruyn was the pick of the Cuballing bowlers, taking 2-11 off his three overs. The thriller of the round came at Williams, where Wandering edged home by one wicket with just one ball to spare. Williams set a target of 177 after being put in by the visitors, Rodney Ford’s innings being the highlight as he battered 46 runs off 29 balls, including five boundaries and two sixes. They had not had the best of starts as opener Michael Cowcher was bowled for a duck by Ben Sherry, but the rest of the top order did their bit. Michael Forman plotted his way to 45 off 114 balls while Riley Ford claimed 38 off 66 before Rodney Ford grabbed the bull by the horns, their side finishing 8-176. The Wandering reply got off to a solid start with Jacob Schorer and Blake Egerton-Warburton adding 22 runs before Jacob Schorer was out for 10. Sherry was next to go but Bailey Parsons got the scoreboard ticking over as he top-scored with 49 off 77 balls before being caught by Cowcher off the bowling of Riley Ford. As the overs ran down, Lewis Parsons kept the tail wagging with 19, with George Wessels striking the penultimate ball for two runs to get them over the line at 9-178. In the other match, Towns enjoyed a six-wicket win over Wickepin-Harrismith at Wickepin. Wickepin won the toss and elected to bat, but while openers Kim Bayley and Tyron Miller both got starts, they were dismissed for eight and 10 respectively and when Mitchell Sermon went for a duck they were 3-27. Bryce Pauley got the scoreboard rolling with 25 off 26 balls and Jamie Miller’s 24 also proved useful but it was lower order player Dane Angwin who did most to help them to set a defendable total of 147, hitting an unbeaten 32. However, Towns captain Perry Quartermaine had other ideas, carrying his bat for 79 runs and blasting 11 boundaries and four sixes in the process. Backed up by Fraser Goode’s 30, his side reached 4-148 in just 21.1 overs.