Last Saturday saw the second last day of the 2023-24 season with semi finals played in 2nd and 3rd grades, while Centenary Cup played their final round of the season.
Second Grade
Centrals would have gone into the Second Grade Semi Final against Cavaliers full of confidence after the previous Saturday’s ‘elimination bout’ against CYMS.
After winning the toss, Cavaliers skipper Zac Pavy’s decision to send Centrals in at Riawena Oval reaped almost immediate dividends when Kobe Mansell removed opener Damien Caughlan in his first over, and then Angus Norton in his second to have Centrals 2/16 after the 4th over.
A 68 run partnership between Graeme Judge and Kurt Gander steadied the red and blacks until Judge fell to Dan O’Reilly for 29. The momentum the swung rather quicky bak to Cavaliers as O’Reilly removed Ben Winslade first ball and then removed Gander in his next over to have Centrals 5/88.
Centrals were unable to arrest the side, with wickets continuing to fall until they were all out for 118 in the 35th over. For Cavaliers, Dan O’Reilly finished with the figures of 3/15 off 6 overs with Kobe Mansell (2/16) and Toby Middleton (2/16) the other multiple wicket takers.
Centrals got the defence of their total off to the best possible start, as Aaron Chaseling firstly removed Stuart Crisp with the last ball of his 2nd over before then removing George Honeysett with the first ball of his next over to be on a hat-trick. Now he didn’t get the hat-trick, but when he bowled Toby Middleton in his 5th over and then Ben Winslade removed Dan O’Reilly in the very next over, the Cavaliers chase was teetering at 4/33. Several overs later, Stuart Pullar took a wicket with his first ball to leave Cavaliers at 5/47. When Pavy and the Max Pearce fell to Winslade in the 19th over and then Pullar took his second in the next, Cavaliers were reeling at 8/67.
Rowan Dray then finished the job taking the last 2 wickets as Cavaliers were bowled out for 86, 26 runs short of their rain reduced victory target. Ben Winslade finished with 3/13 off 7 overs and Aaron Chaseling 3/18 off his 7. Rowan Dray (2/17) and Graeme Judge (2/21) picked up the remaining wickets.
Centrals will now face Kinross in next Saturday’s Grand Final at Riawena Oval.
Third Grade
After being in last place at the Christmas break, Gladstone fell one match short of a fairytale finish to their season with their loss to Orange CYMS in the semi final.
In another tough match for the batting team, Gladstone were forced to bat first after being sent in by the CYMS skipper. Steven Nean made 19 at the top of the order, but other than Gavin Smith’s 10, no other batters reached double figures as the Gladdy were dismissed for 58. Shehan Fernando was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4/11 while Udi Lokuge snagged 3/13 from his 6 overs and Riley Krause bagged 2/7. Matt Culverson had a good day behind the stumps taking 4 catches. In their reply, CYMS also found batting difficult on the Bloomfield Oval pitch as they lost 4 quick early wickets to be 4/12, Dale Jones taking 3 of those. Some small but important partnerships were enough to get the green and golds into the grand final, winning by 4 wickets. Shehan Fernando top scored for CYMS with 17 not out, with Angus Gorman next best with 15. Dale Jones finished with 3/15 from his 8 overs, while Gavin Smith picked up 2 wickets and Benny Elwood was super economical, bowling 4 maidens in his 8 over spell.
CYMS will now challenge minor premiers Spring Hill for the premiership next Saturday at Bloomfield Oval.
Fourth Grade
In the final round of the Centenary Cup competition, Orange City and Orange CYMS picked up wins over Kinross and Centrals respectively.
In the Orange City v Kinross match, Orange City batted first, making 145 before bowling Kinross out for 82. Wayne Clarke (27), Michael Corby (22) and Will McKeown (19) led the way for the Warriors with the bat, while Will Haseler (3/33), Charlie Keirle (2/14) and Samuel Spliet (2/18) were the pick of the Kinross bowlers. Henry Martel top scored with 30 in the Kinross innings, while Isaac Clarke (3/23), Toby Jackson (3/28) and Hugo Parker (2/10) had a good day with the ball.
Orange CYMS guaranteed their place at the top of the table following a 9 wicket win over Centrals in the other match at Jack Brabham 4. Openers Riley Davis (26) and Flynn Mcarthur (17) were the only two to reach double figures in the Centrals innings of 81. Tom Wright had a field day with the ball, taking 5/12 before Steve Wotton (50) and Stacey Cornish (20 no) helped to see the green and golds to their target inside 12 overs.
CYMS will now meet Orange City in next Saturday's Grand Final at Jack Brabham 4.
Commenti