NYAH District have once again proven themselves to be the kings of the white ball format, with a 45-run win over Woorinen in Saturday’s Kookaburra Cup grand final giving the Demons back-to-back titles.
Nyah District’s record in the SHDCA’s one-day competition is unrivalled, with the Demons claiming their 14th Kookaburra Cup title since its inception in 1997-98.
Having chased down a massive 207 against Nyah District back in round 4, Woorinen backed themselves in to do so again after winning the toss and electing to bowl first.
The Tigers managed to restrict the Demons to 7-178 from their 40 overs, which was considered a chaseable target on the usually batter friendly Swan Hill Rec. Reserve pitch.
After losing two early wickets, Woorinen began a steady rebuild of their innings through key batsmen Dean Morpeth (36) and Darren Rushton (16), with the pair getting the Tigers to 2-54 at drinks.
The game was then broken open two balls after the break however, when Morpeth skied a Jacob Lister (1-27 from five overs) delivery into the hands of Max Thompson, with a 40-run third wicket partnership that threatened to be a match winning one over.
Despite the best efforts of Cooper Fox (22), Guri Singh (13) and Frank Violi (17 not out), Woorinen were unable to recover. The wickets fell consistently thanks largely in part to Ben Sheridan (4-17 from eight overs), Joel Walsh (2-29 from eight overs) and Thompson (1-24 from eight overs).
The victory was a “great reward” for weeks of hard work according to Nyah District captain Ben Shadbolt, who was full of praise for his team’s approach to the game post-match.
“We’ve put in the work right from the first round and we’ve managed to get it done against a very good team in Woorinen,” Shadbolt said.
“It’s nice to go back-to-back as well, that just shows that we’ve been a consistent team not just this season but for a couple of seasons now. We’ve not only been putting in the work, but we’re also getting the most out of the boys.
“We want to be a team that consistently performs and is hard to beat every week and I think we are getting there, and results like this is evidence of that.”
The win was set up by a dominant opening partnership from Nyah District’s Charlie Boulton (49) and Mitchell Grinham (31), with the pair giving their side a 94-run platform from which to launch from.
It wasn’t until the 24th over of the Demons innings that the first wicket (Boulton) fell, with Grinham also departing with the very next delivery and opening the door for a Woorinen fight back.
Consistent wickets plagued Nyah District for the remainder of their innings, with Nash Richman (27) scoring some much needed runs late to get his side to a 7-178.
Boulton would later be named man-of-the-match, a feat which he also achieved in last year’s Kookaburra Cup premiership victory over St.Mary’s-Tyntynder.
“We obviously know how talented he (Boulton) is, because we’re in the inner circle, but he is such a competitor as well and he clearly loves the big occasions,” Shadbolt said.
“Charlie (Boulton) comes off as this cool, calm character, which he is, but the kid cares a lot more than he shows, he puts in so much work to improve his game and he has some serious ability to go with it.”
The win also sees Nyah District remain in the hunt to be the SHDCA’s first club to win all three A grade premierships in a season, with the Demons having also won the McDonald’s T20 competition in December last year.
But while his side might be the team to beat currently, Shadbolt knows winning all three premierships will be far from an easy accomplishment.
“I think the motivation for our boys is as high as it will ever be for us now as we’d love to be first team to win all three in a season,” Shadbolt said.
“We probably dropped off a little bit after the T20 win and we came back from the Christmas break a bit flat, but we’re confident that we have the team, the ability and the drive to knock off all three.
“In saying that, we know the other teams will be coming for us and every game we play from now until the end of the season we’re going to have to be at our best.
“There’s no easy games from now on and with the evenness of the competition this year, every match will be just as important as the next one.”
