Sharks chew off T20 victory

LEONGATHA & District Cricket Association’s T20 knockout competition concluded in exciting fashion on Sunday, with low scoring semi finals followed by a grand final characterised by big hitting, with Phillip Island the champion.

Grand Final: Outtrim Moyarra Kongwak (OMK) 8/157 def by Phillip Island 6/182

Phillip Island won the toss with skipper Max Royal showing confidence in the Scorpion Park pitch, electing to bat first.

His side responded impressively, with explosive hitting, particularly from Sri Lankan opener Shiran Rathnayake.

He blazed 68 from just 32 balls, backing that up with a crucial runout during OMK’s innings and snaring a wicket with the ball, earning the honour of ‘man of the match’.

Rathnayake blasted nine fours and four sixes.

The run out Rathnayake achieved ended another blistering innings, that of OMK captain and opener Ryan Williams.

Williams crunched four boundaries, along with six maximums, on his way to 69 off 39 balls.

“Ryan Williams batted exceptionally well for OMK to try and get them over the line and once he was gone, they were finished,” LDCA president John Schelling said.

Although he scored only 19 runs, Jacob Lamers provided solid support for Williams, working the singles to get his big-hitting OMK teammate back on strike.

Jacob Lamers earlier captured three wickets,conceding 36 runs off his four overs.

Although OMK never looked in the hunt after Williams’ departure, wicketkeeper Mitchell Andrew contributed an entertaining 25 off 18 balls, scoring a number of runs behind the wicket with late cuts that taunted Phillip Island wicketkeeper Jarrod Black.

Rathnayake’s starring role for Phillip Island was backed up by fellow Sri Lankan Charith Keerthisinghe who stood out with the ball, capturing 1/16 off four high-quality overs of left arm off spin.

President Schelling praised Leongatha Town’s preparation of Scorpion Park, which looked a picture for its Sunday semi final and grand final.

“The pitch was in great order,” he said.

Semi Final 1: Phillip Island v Leongatha Town (Leongatha Recreation Reserve)

Phillip Island posted just 120, a total Leongatha would have been pleased to hold its semi final opponent to.

However, Leongatha Town fell short in the chase.

Semi Final 2: Koonwarra Leongatha RSL all out 107 def by OMK 9/114 (Scorpion Park)

Ethan Lamers’ score of 34 gave OMK’s bowlers something to defend after the side’s skipper Ryan Williams elected to bat against Koonwarra Leongatha RSL.

OMK cobbled together a modest 9/114.

While Ethan Lamers had a delayed start to the season due to ankle surgery, he’s made a big impression since returning to the field.

“Ethan’s having a great season and he’s striking the ball beautifully,” president Schelling said, noting his cover driving is a highlight of his batting.

Harry Hoekstra was one of the Cougars making life tough for the OMK batsmen.

The quick left armer conceded a meagre 18 runs off his four overs, also grabbing a couple of wickets.

Ben Perry, Callum Buckland and Will Cashin also chimed in with two wickets each, with Perry allowing the OMK batsmen just 17 runs off his four overs.

It took something special for the OMK bowlers to skittle the highly fancied Cougars for just 107 runs.

With the power hitting and high scores on display later in the grand final, the Scorpion Park pitch couldn’t be blamed for the low-scoring nature of the venue’s semi final.

Perhaps the Cougars failed to handle the pressure of heavy favouritism along with the expectation of knocking off a modest target.

They suffered a calamitous five run outs, with the hardest hitting of those removing Perry for 55 runs.

After his earlier starring role with the ball, Perry was the one man who looked likely to guide Koonwarra to victory with the bat.

Opening batsman Ben Davison was the side’s only other notable contributor with the willow, following his tidy 0/21 off four overs in a rare bowling appearance.

Much of the credit for OMK’s win goes to its bowling attack that kept the pressure on throughout the Cougars innings.

Ethan Lamers made it an allround performance for OMK, with 2/22 off his full complement of overs.

Nick Auddino was the winner’s other multiple wicket taker, snavelling 2/21 off his four overs.

Peter Dell also played his role in the victory, capturing a miserly 1/11 off just a couple of balls short of his four overs.