ST Mary’s-Tyntynder are the first team through to this year’s Kookaburra Cup grand final after defeating Nyah District at the weekend to book their place in the decider and keep alive their hopes of back-to-back titles.
Who the Saints will play, however, is unknown.
Both Wandella and Woorinen are in the running after the SHDCA board decided last week to reschedule the season’s opening round to after Christmas.
St Mary’s-Tyntynder have the bye for that round and the guaranteed six points assure their spot. Woorinen (third) can still leapfrog Wandella (second) however, with the Tigers just three points behind the Bombers before the rescheduled round.
The Saints’ seven-wicket win over the Demons was their third of the season and means they will head into the resumption of the McDonald’s T20 competition undefeated in the limited overs format.
Having been set 135 to chase after bowling out Nyah District in the 39th over, St Mary’s-Tyntynder then cruised to victory with just three wickets down and two overs to spare.
Star all-rounder Corey Daniels was the mainstay of the Saints’ innings, striking an unbeaten 56 from 78 balls.
It was a big day for Daniels, who also returned to the bowling crease for the first time this season following an injury lay-off.
St Mary’s-Tyntynder skipper Nathaniel Holmes-Brown told The Guardian after the match he was pleased to have his gun paceman back up and firing.
“(Daniels) only came off a few steps, but it was just good to have him back bowling,” Holmes-Brown said.
“It’s good to have another experienced bowler in our line-up and someone who can bowl at a good pace as well.
“It’s almost at a point where we’ve got that many bowlers that there are guys who are really good bowlers but they’re not even getting their chance with the ball.
“Everyone I’ve thrown the ball to has done a really good job and as a captain that’s all I can really ask.
“But it was great to see Corey back up and bowling and it was great to see him hit some good form with the bat too.”
Despite being comfortably beaten by St Mary’s-Tyntynder in the opening T20 game of the season, Nyah District would have been relatively confident heading into the game with the Saints missing four key players – Jack Shannahan, Dom Violi, Bailey Codling and Jake Foster.
Demons opener Charlie Boulton got the visitors off to a dream start, scoring 55 from 86 balls and sharing a 53-run third-wicket partnership with Josh Domaille.
But the innings fell apart following Boulton’s departure, with Nyah District losing their last seven wickets for 30 runs. Off-spinner Austin McKerrow was the chief destroyer, running through the Demons’ middle order with 4/23 from eight overs, while Robin Sebastian cleaned up the tail with 3/34 off 7.4 overs.
The Saints’ reply started shakily, with Connor Power being run out without scoring, before Drew Lloyd had trapped McKerrow (15) in front to have the home side in a bit of trouble a 2/22. That’s where the joy ended for Nyah District, as Charlie King (25 off 94 balls) and Daniels set about rescuing the innings, compiling a 77-run partnership for the third wicket to end any hopes of an upset.
Holmes-Brown was pleased to have locked in St Mary’s-Tyntynder’s third straight Kookaburra Cup grand final appearance, but was well aware there was still plenty of work to do ahead of the resumption of the McDonald’s T20 competition this Saturday, with the Saints to host RSL and Wandella in a double-header.
“We haven’t achieved anything yet though so for the moment it’s all about just being consistent and playing our best cricket week in and week out.
“All of our batters that are within our top four or five are pretty adaptable, they can either play aggressive or defensive depending on the situation of a match and can either rotate the strike if need be or hit the boundaries if the situation requires it.
“I don’t think we’ll really have to change too much – we just need to keep playing good consistent cricket and the results will take care of themselves.”
The closest result of the round was at Alan Garden Reserve, where Wandella managed to hold on for a five-run win over Ultima-TUF and keep themselves in the box seat for a spot in the Kookaburra Cup final.
It would be a much different story for the Bombers if not for the performance of captain Greg Dickson, who peeled off an impressive 70 from 85 balls to be Wandella’s only serious contributor in a total of 120 all out,
Jordan King impressed with the ball, taking 4/29, including the wicket of danger man Dickson.
In reply, the Roodogs’ top and middle order all made starts – but Mitch Seton Stewart (23), Aydan Symons (23), Ben Shepherd (19) and Kyle Symons (14) were unable to go on.
While making hard work of it, Ultima-TUF still appeared to be well in control, needing just 11 runs with four wickets in hand.
Daniel Higgs (3/32) and Bohden McKnight (3/18) then turned the game on its head. Higgs dismissed Seton-Stewart to start the collapse, with the home side 4/6.
RSL hosted Woorinen at Gurnett Oval, with the Tigers chasing down the Blues score of 148 in quick time. RSL veterans Ryan Hinton (82) and Brenton Caldwell (40) led the way with a 101-run partnership for the third wicket to help the home side score a competitive 5/148 from their 40 overs.
The Tigers – particularly Cooper Fox – had other ideas however, with Woorinen chasing down the Blues total with ten overs to spare and five wickets in hand. Fox led the way for the visitors, belting his way to 56 off 59 balls, including four four’s and four sixes – and included a 61-run third wicket partnership with Dean Morpeth (26).
The dismissal of Fox, with the score at 5-112 breathed some life into the contest, with RSL needing to take five wickets with 40 runs still required and two new batsmen at the crease – however Woorinen captain Jason Mangiameli (17 not out) and Darren Rushton (23 not out) had other ideas, guiding the visitors to victory five wickets down and with 10.3 overs to spare.
SHDCA A GRADE MATCH RESULTS
Nyah District 134 (Charlie Boulton 55, Austin McKerrow 4/23, Robin Sebastian 3/34, Nathaniel Holmes-Brown 2/32) lost to St Mary’s-Tyntynder 3/135 (Corey Daniels 56*, Charlie King 25)
Wandella 120 (Greg Dickson 70, Jordan King 4/29, William Girdwood 2/16, Cassidy Sibley 2/17) defeated Ultima-TUF 115 (Bohden McKnight 3/18, Daniel Higgs 3/32, Ryan Barnes 2/19)
RSL 5/148 (Ryan Hinton 82, Brenton Caldwell 40, Glenn Violi 2/31) lost to Woorinen 5/152 (Cooper Fox 56, Dean Morpeth 26, Pat Caldwell 2/45)
