Two moments that mattered in the A2 final

• A Grade, Division 2

CRICKET matches often swing on single events and there were two such incidents in the LDCA - A Grade Division 2 Grand Final on the weekend which propelled the undefeated Korumburra side to victory over Meeniyan-Dumbalk United.

The first was a rearing, snorting delivery from Korumburra opening bowler Steve Hamill, only the second delivery of the whole match, which MDU opener Steve Arnup just managed to feather through to Peter Edwards in slips to give the Cobras the perfect start.

From that point onwards, throughout the MDU innings, they were on top, and notwithstanding the stoic knock by Mitch McGrath of 44 off 156 balls faced, the wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals.

Hamill finished with 3/42 off 22 overs, Harry McNeill and Harshika Fernando chipped in with one each and the team’s Sri Lankan star, Inshaka Siriwardena, cleaned up the tail, taking 5/26.

In the end, MDU had made 112 off 60.4 of their allotted 90 overs.

Everything had to go right from that stage onwards, simply to make a game of it, and hopes lifted when MDU made an excellent start with the ball.

Korumburra had 29 overs to face on Saturday afternoon however any idea they’d be able to polish off the target in short order went out the window.

After facing 17 balls, Korumburra opener Harshika Fernando hit out aggressively at a delivery from Mark Cantwell and was caught by Ben Cantwell at midwicket and not long after, Cory Arnold was caught behind off Cantwell again, this time by the MDU captain Joel Sinclair in slips.

Korumburra was forced to rethink its strategy with Cantwell really bending his back and MDU up and about in the field.

Siriwardena joined Jacob Whiteside out in the centre, with 2/12 on the board, and MDU tightening the screws at both ends.

The pressure boiled over, confusion over a call for a quick run left Siriwardena stranded in the middle of the pitch for what looked certain to be an easy runout but the return from the field went wide and high, and the moment was lost.

Siriwardena made his ground, and the rest is history.

Whiteside and Siriwardena were more circumspect from that point onwards and returned safely on Sunday to clean up the remaining 67 runs for victory.

Despite offering another chance, Siriwardena finished with 58 not out, and Whiteside a chanceless 39 not out.

Predictably Siriwardena was named man of the match but the umpires Steve McNamara and Ian Thorn nominated several other very good performances including Mitch McGrath’s standout innings of 44, Steve Hamill’s strong opening bowling and Mark Cantwell’s bowling for MDU, taking 2/8 off 10 overs to have Korumburra on the back foot in the opening stages of their innings, a fair effort in the circumstances.

Speaking at the presentations afterwards, Korumburra captain Jimmy Rangana said “discipline” was the hallmark for Korumburra’s unbeaten season, for everything from being on time for training and doing what was asked at training, to the approach on gameday. 

He said the club was now looking forward to being competitive in A Grade Division 1 and the return of Inshaka Siriwardena, after a first-class season back in Sri Lanka, starting next week, will be crucial to the performance of what is otherwise a good, young side.

Siriwardena said he fully intends to return next summer to Korumburra but at 23 years of age, he still has ambitions of playing at the highest level in Sri Lanka and maybe beyond.

The umpires were praised for their management of the game and the grounds volunteers for the wicket and surrounds at Leongatha.