Portarlington opener Brenton Toole smashes 167 off 152 balls against Wallington

A broken thumb to a Portarlington junior was the only thing standing between the Demons and a potentially famous victory after a stunning 152-ball 167 from one of its openers.

A broken thumb to one of Portarlington’s junior players was all that stood between the Demons and a potentially famous victory over Wallington in BPCA’s second tier competition.

Needing 319 to win at Oakdene Oval on Saturday, the Demons lost their ninth wicket with 303 on the board and seven balls remaining

However, Demons batter Mitch Grinter said the team erred on the side of caution after No.11 and youngster Buckley Hickey fractured his thumb in the warm-up last Saturday.

“If we were nine down and needed two runs off 10 overs, he probably would have gone in,” Grinter said.

“He actually did it in the warm-up last week and fielded the whole way through without complaining, I had absolutely no idea.

“A tough little kid.”

Brenton Toole hit 167 off 152 balls for Portarlington against Wallington. Picture: Portarlington CC.

Meanwhile, Grinter praised the hard hitting of opener Brenton Toole who smashed an astounding 167 off 152 balls, with scores of 28 from James Tilders and Stephen Illingworth the next best.

He would hit 22 boundaries and three sixes in his knock.

“‘Tooley’ was absolutely phenomenal,” Grinter said.

“Talk about a good player in good form, he’s making the rest of us look bad to be perfectly honest,” he said with a grin

He also praised the work of rookie Riley Illingworth (a patient 27 off 111 balls), who replaced captain Cameron Gourley at the top of the order.

“He wasn’t starving Tooley of the strike,” he said.

“They were ticking it along at three or four an over without any real stress or chances to be honest.

“It was really just bat with Tooley, get him on strike and let him go to work.

“He hit some of the cleanest balls I’ve seen in a long time.

“He’s pretty strong all around the ground to be fair.”

Toole batting against Armstrong Creek earlier in the season. Picture: Mark Wilson

However, from 2-201, the Demons lost their next seven wickets for 102 runs as Jeewantha Sarangajith Ranasinghe Arachchige claimed 4-72 off 20 overs, with support from Dan Wise-Graham (2-92).

Grinter felt Wallington won the closing overs of both days, with a crucial 102-run partnership for the ninth wicket on day one from Owen Dunn and Colin Smith, and then the work of Arachchige and Wise-Graham at the death on Saturday.

“We said after the game, you don’t make 300 and lose all that often,” he said.

“I cannot take anything away from how (Wallington) batted, they were pretty faultless.

“They did brilliantly to get it up to 318.

“I think ultimately the last 15 overs of the game, Wallington won it both weeks, their efforts with the bat and how they bowled to us at the death as well.”

Originally published as Portarlington opener Brenton Toole smashes 167 off 152 balls against Wallington