T20 finals weekend in sight

VASSE Cricket Club will play in their first ever A-Grade grand final this Saturday when they come up against Margaret River Hawks in the T20 showcase playoff at Barnard Park starting at 3pm.

Both Vasse and Hawks won four of their five qualifying games in the month-long T20 competition, putting them ahead of Yallingup-Oddbods, winner of the past four T20 A-Grade championships in the Busselton-Margaret River Cricket Association, followed on the points table by Dunsborough, St Marys and Cowaramup.

Saturday’s B-Grade grand final at 1pm will see Yallingup-Oddbods take on Dunsborough, while the C-Grade grand final, starting at 10am, will be contested between Vasse and Yallingup-Oddbods.

Last Saturday’s final round of qualifying games saw no fewer than 16 fixtures played across all grades at Barnard Park, Bovell Park and Dunsborough.

Low scoring was a feature of the day.

None of the six A-Grade games saw a total raised over 100, with the closest finishes seeing Hawks edge out Vasse with eight balls to spare, and Dunsborough defeating YOBS by 13 runs (94 runs to 81) in a game that YOBS needed to win to have any chance of reaching the final.

St Marys’ young A-Grade side, which had won its first two games of the competition earlier in the month, competed stoutly against Margaret River Hawks and Vasse before losing both games to bow out of the contest for the playoffs.

Kye Barrow (36) and Zoraiz Saeed (38) were the best of the batsmen for Saints on Saturday, while Ryley Barrow (2-8 v Hawks) and Saeed (2-10 v Vasse) were their best bowlers.

The A-Grade bowler of the day was Rumesh Silva for Hawks, who achieved outstanding combined figures of 7-19 from two games (3-13 off 4 overs v St Marys and 4-6 off 4 overs v Vasse).

Hawks legspinner Peter Crimp also achieved excellent combined figures of 5-16 (1-7 and 4-9) to play a key role for his team.

Jacques Allen (2-6 v Hawks) and Tom Perks (also 2-6 v St Marys) were the best bowlers on the day for Vasse.

The A-Grade batsman of the round was Shankar Madhusudan, who hit an unbeaten 51 off 42 balls for Vasse against St Marys to lead his team to victory.

The undoubted match of the round was the C-Grade 9am contest between Dunsborough and Vasse at Dunsborough Playing Fields, in which Dunsborough scored an impressive 3-176 off their 20 overs (Dave Merry 70 not out and Darcy Carroll 72), only to be pipped by Vasse on the last possible ball of the day with 3-179, with Jack O’Malley striking 71 off just 45 balls and Richard Atkinson an unbeaten 59 off 44 balls for the victors.

Atkinson also scored 47 off 44 balls for Vasse against the YOBS Academy in the following game, while Jamie Liston struck an excellent 64 off 54 balls for YOBS Academy in the same game.

Yallingup-Oddbods were unbeaten in the B-Grade preliminary games, with Robbie Lorrimar taking 3-6 in his side’s win against Vasse and James Taylor taking 4-8 in their win over Dunsborough.

Dunsborough overcame St Marys in their opening B-Grade game with Nathan McClymont taking 3-7 for Dunsborough as Saints were restricted to 70 runs.