Gallery | Under-17s clinch junior country week grand final berth

Half-centuries to Echuca duo Archer Carlile (61) and Lachlan Hogan (57 not-out) powered Goulburn Murray to 6-195 before Kyabram paceman Nicholas Jephson’s dominant tournament with the ball continued with 4-13 off nine overs.

Jephson has taken to life as an opening bowler, boasting seven wickets after snaring 3-19 in Goulburn Murray’s first-round win over Murray Valley.

Noah Turner (2-13) and Oscar Burns (2-23) rounded out a stifling performance by the Goulburn Murray bowlers, rolling Bendigo for 106.

Goulburn Murray will face Sunraysia at Weeroona Oval in Bendigo on Friday in the grand final.

The final round of the carnival threw up late drama with the under-13A side coming close to qualifying for the grand final on the back of skipper Ben Henson’s heroics.

In a do-or-die clash against Shepparton, Henson arrived at the crease at 6-86 in the 28th over in pursuit of Shepparton’s 7-158.

Henson subsequently pummelled 92 runs off 104 deliveries to nearly drag his side to victory, but departed in the final over as Shepparton secured a dramatic 14-run win and a finals berth.

This comes after a match-winning 59 not-out and 3-19 from Henson against Murray Valley in round two helped Goulburn Murray steal a narrow two-run win after tasting defeat to Bendigo on Tuesday.

Ryan Caldwell (2-9) and Jasper Hare (2-32) chimed in to deal Murray Valley a two-wicket defeat and keep chances of a grand final berth alive.

Meanwhile, the under-17 girls have bowed out of the title race but not before giving Cricket Shepparton an almighty scare on the second day of the carnival.

Kyabram’s Mia Elliot (21) and Echuca’s Maisy Byrne (27) made up the bulk of Goulburn Murray’s scoring on the way to a low total of 86, but the bowlers set up an enthralling contest.

Elliot fired with ball in hand claiming 4-21 and skipper Jada Bover provided a miserly 3-10, but Shepparton nonetheless managed to sneak by with a one-wicket win.

Though the under-16s failed to progress, Moama’s Liam Stephens provided the highlights with the bat.

Stephens wrapped up his tournament with 154 runs from three games, and after falling agonisingly short of a half-century in his first two games with scores of 49 not-out and 47, he finally broke through against Murray Valley with 58.

Despite a spirited run-chase against Sunraysia on day two, the under-15s failed to qualify for the final day of play.

Blake Gibson (2-30) and Tongala’s Ben Smith (2-22) toiled hard to dismiss Sunraysia for 193 at Rochester’s Windridge Oval, but Kade Pearse’s 33 runs and contributions from Lucas Holgate (23), Ky Henson (24) and Gibson (23) couldn’t help GMC track down the score.

Against Shepparton on the first day of the carnival, Holgate’s 48 runs provided the bulk of GMC’s 118, which the latter would chase eight wickets down.

The under-14 squad opened its account with a dominant eight-wicket victory over Murray Valley on the back of a starring performance from Moama’s James Mason (50 retired not-out and 2-9).

Mason again led the run-scoring with 33 against Shepparton in round two, but it wasn’t enough to chase down Shepparton’s 5-150 as GMC fell 59 runs short.

The under-13B squad’s campaign started with a dominant nine-wicket victory over Cricket Shepparton but ran into a firing Seymour District side in the second round, falling to a 95-run loss.

Asher Rasmussen (20) and Taj Maddox (17) stood tall with the bat while Lachlan Jeffrey’s claimed figures of 2-9.

At the time of writing, the under-14 girls squad was locked in a battle against Bendigo for a place in the grand final, dismissing them for 5-92.

A junior country week wrap-up will be included in Monday’s edition of the Riverine Herald.