mmg.com.au

A sprinkler malfunction forced the cancellation of the first day of the Kyabram versus Kialla clash in Cricket Shepparton’s Haisman competiton on Saturday.

The game will now become a one-day fixture this Saturday.

Kyabram Cricket Club president Andrew Porch said the damp wicket was discovered on Saturday morning and Cricket Shepparton was informed.

‘‘The umpire and their captain came across and had a look and agreed play wouldn’t be possible,’’ Porch said.

‘‘The sprinkler which came on was underneath the covers so it was pretty damp when discovered. About three-quarters of the wicket had been affected.’’

Porch said it was unlikely the sprinkler had been manually turned on.

‘‘It’s a bit complicated to do that and only someone who knows what to do could do it so it had to be a malfunction,’’ he said.

‘‘They (Kialla) are still in the finals race so didn’t want to be caught on a wet wicket so play was called off.

‘‘We were also very disappointed as we had our strongest side for the season available.’’

B-grade

In B-grade, Kyabram was struggling at 3-24 in reply to Karramomus’ 194.

Kyabram’s successful bowlers were Harley Orchard with 3-24 off four overs, Matt McDonald with 3-48 off 16 overs and Charlie McLay and Adrian Baker, who both claimed two wickets.

The experienced McDonald and Baker will be key players again this week with the bat when Kyabram resumes its innings.

D-grade

Kyabram’s D-grade side notched a 26-run win over Invergordon on the back of the batting efforts of opener Anthony Robinson and Chris Usher.

Robinson made 55, which included six boundaries, while Usher slammed 67 with six fours and three sixes as Kyabram reached 6-195.

Earlier, Brad Power with 3-43 off eight overs and Luckas Hanslow, Nic Ross and Damien Parsons, each with two wickets, had bowled Invergordon out for 169.

●Junior cricket in the competition has not yet resumed.