THE last round of the Swan Hill District Cricket Association’s Kookaburra Cup season is set to be a thrilling finish, as Wandella and Woorinen fight it out for the remaining Grand Final spot.
St Mary’s Tyntynder has the bye this weekend and a guaranteed six points, which will be enough for them to secure a Grand Final berth.
It has been a disjointed KC season in 2022/23, with some teams only playing one match due to the extreme weather earlier in the season.
NYAH DISTRICT VS WANDELLA
All Wandella need to do is win, and they’ll be in the KC final, which would be a fantastic achievement for the side that only joined the SHDCA last season.
That is easier said than done, however, as they come up against the form side of the competition in Nyah District.
After a slow start to their campaign, the Demons went on a blitzkrieg in December, storming their way into the McDonalds T20 Grand Final, where they demolished red-hot favourite St Mary’s.
Due to that slow start, though, the Demons cannot make the big dance in the KC.
Since their tie to RSL and loss to the Saints in the KC, the Demons have appeared to find the right balance with their batting line-up.
Charlie Boulton and Shane Fleming are partnering well together at the top, ahead of gun bat Joel Walsh at first drop, who’s looking ominous.
But it was the innings of Dean Harrop (68 off 41) in the T20 Final that will make opposition sides worried.
With a settled top order and a powerful, in-form middle order, the Demons are the envy of many.
Drew Lloyd has been another crucial addition in the middle order after missing most of the start of the season.
It is his bowling that is most important for the Demons, though, as shown by his three-wicket first-over performance in the T20 GF.
The Demons were crying out for someone to back up Walsh with the ball, and they have found that man in Lloyd.
The Bombers’ form line in the KC might be slightly deceptive.
They are undefeated, however, having only played two games where they scraped past mid-table Swan Hill and Ultima TUFF.
If they are to triumph, there’s no doubt that skipper Gregory Dickson has to play and score big.
Dickson has only played four games this season but has scored 225 runs at an average of 75.
Without Dickson, the Bombers’ batting falls away quickly, and they have struggled to post big totals, which is what they’ll require against the high-powered batting of the Demons.
The Demons will head into this contest as favourites.
ULTIMA TUF VS WOORINEN
Woorinen will be hoping for a favour from the Demons, but a win over Ultima TUF is first required for them to make the KC Final.
The Tigers sit three points behind the Bombers and will head in as favourites against the Roos tomorrow.
After a brilliant start to the season, the Tigers hit a wall just before Christmas, losing their final three T20 games to miss the final, which at one stage seemed inevitable.
Incredibly the Tigers have only played one game in the KC this season – A five-wicket victory over the winless RSL, which makes it hard to predict how they’ll assault the contest tomorrow.
The talent littered throughout their lineup should be enough to get them over the line.
Opening bat Cooper Fox has had a fantastic season, hitting 288 runs at 41.14.
Their bowling is the issue, however – they have failed to restrict a team to below 120 since the opening match of the season in October.
On the Alan Garden Reserve pitch, where teams have struggled to post large totals this season, it will make the Tigers nervous.
The Roos have been average so far in 2022/23 but play their home ground well – and are always in the contest – taking most games deep.
They’ve been unlucky, losing a couple of close games to the Bombers and Swans at home.
Like the Tigers, the Roos have only played one KC match this season, which was a five-run loss to the Bombers.
With such a quick turnaround after Christmas, we might see a few upsets tomorrow, and the Roos are definitely going to be a dangerous proposition.
SWAN HILL VS RSL
In the final contest tomorrow, the much-improved Swan Hill take on winless RSL in a dead rubber.
Both sides have been out of the KC Final race for a while now, with the Swans losing both their KC Cup games so far this season.
Unlike the last couple of seasons, though, the Swans were right in both those games and showed their improvement could be translated to victories, winning their final three T20 matches.
However, they still need to show everyone that they can get the points in the longer formats.
Their bowling has been their great strength this season, with spinner Ian Schodde taking a significant step in his development.
Schodde has taken 15 wickets which is the most of anyone in 2022/23.
He has been well backed up by Callan Noonan and Andrew Clark, who has 11 wickets at an average of 8.27.
It is their batting where improvement is still needed.
Scores of 74 and 93 in the KC earlier in the season simply aren’t good enough, and they’ll need a score of 150 plus against an RSL batting line-up that includes Ryan Hinton.
Hinton scored 294 runs at 32.57 before Christmas, and he and his Blues would consider themselves unlucky not to have got a win on the board yet with their batting in solid form, as showed by their strong totals against Woorinen and Nyah.
Whilst their bowling definitely needs work, there’s a sense that the Blues are well overdue for a win and get a great chance against a young Swans side who are still hit or miss.
