NYAH District has come away victorious in Saturday’s T20 semi final and grand final matches against Ultima Tuf and Wandella respectively.
The Demons were too strong in their semi-final match up against Ultima Tuf.
Joel Walsh was the highest run scorer, getting 41 runs before getting caught by Jacob Hatcher.
Nash Richman and Mitchell Grinham brought the Demons home getting 38 and 20 runs respectively.
Nyah District Captain Ben Shadbolt and Charlie Boulton both got three wickets as they ran over the Roodogs for a comfortable 45-run win.
In the other semi-final, Wandella faced up against Woorinen.
The Bombers got whacked in the bowling, with Cooper Fox and Mitchell Uhlhorn notching 82 and 57 runs respectively to get the Tigers up to 187 runs.
However, Wandella managed to fight back as captain Daniel Higgs had a 44-run knock and Ryan Barnes had an even more impressive 69-run not out term at the crease in just 35 balls, giving him a staggering 197.14 strike rate.
The Bombers managed to get the winning runs in the final over and so it was settled, Nyah District would face Wandella in the T20 grand final.
Nyah District won the toss for the grand final and Ben Shadbolt elected to bat first.
Wandella got to business in quick fashion, grabbing Charlie Boulton in the first over, but Jacob Lister and Joel Walsh settled in quickly and having a crucial 68-run partnership.
Joel Walsh was again the highest run scorer for the Demons and managed 69 runs before getting caught by Daniel Higgs.
Wandella’s Bohden McKnight was crucial in the bowling, getting three wickets and only conceding 16 runs in his four-over spell, for an incredible 4.00 economy, nearly unheard of in T20 cricket.
The Bombers kept Nyah District to a score of 134 runs and had an achievable task ahead of them – an easier target to acquire compared to their semi-final clash, so they were in the hot seat for a big win.
But the Demons had other plans for the Bombers, getting Flynn McKnight early on and everything fell apart for Wandella from there, losing five wickets in the space of 25 runs.
The Bombers never seemed to fight back from there, despite Bohden McKnight trying to keep Wandella’s hopes alive with his 41-run not out effort.
Cooper Andrews was a crucial asset for Nyah District’s bowling attack, earning himself three wickets.
Joel Walsh and Jacob Lister both got two wickets, and everyone’s economy rate was on point at around the 5.00 mark.
Once the Demons got the last wicket of Laing Waddingham, the party officially started, and the winner presentations commenced.
The man of the match award went to Joel Walsh for his crucial 69-run batting effort and two-wicket display in the bowling.
Nyah District captain Ben Shadbolt praised Joel Walsh for his effort in the grand final.
“Yeah he is a super talent, he works harder than anyone in the comp I believe,” he said.
“He is a machine, he has plenty of talent, very handy to have someone like him on your team.”
The batter of the series went to Daniel Higgs from Wandella, the bowler of the series went to Robert Rush from Woorinen, and the champion player of the series went Darren Rushton also from Woorinen.
Ben Shadbolt was very pleased with the result on the weekend and chalked it up to the fact a lot of the players had experience in finals cricket.
“Yeah we were always confident going into the weekend,” he said.
“We’ve been together long enough as a group, we have won a few finals now.
“The belief was always there that we could get it done once we got there (making the grand final).
” A lot of the guys now, despite being a young side, have a fair bit of finals experience, so we know what it’s like to get there and win.”
With the T20 action over and done with, one-day cricket action will continue on January 11.
Nyah District will be facing Wandella again at Wandella’s home ground, Riverside Park.
Last time those two sides faced each other in the one-day format, Nyah ran over the top of them, winning by a staggering 95 runs.
“We’d like to repeat the performance we had on the weekend.” Shadbolt said
“We will be confident like we were on the weekend, but Wandella probably suit the longer format a bit better.”
