And so, it comes down to this Friday. Two teams to battle it out for the right to be called the best of Busso. The Busselton T20 Cricket champions.
The Bin Chooks will go into the final match against The Lemons as red hot favourites after another clinical win last Tuesday over the Jack of All Trades. Tom Payne, batting at 9, was the inform batsman of the night with an unbeaten 54. Hitting four 6’s and four 4’s, there wasn’t much running involved but when you can bludgeon a half century; why would you bother!
A superior season with the bat had Miles Armstrong the big wicket but he fell early for only 6 while Russ Hartley smashed an unbeaten 45. Sam Pike and Sean Beckett were the other two notable batting performances for the Chooks with 22 runs each. Jason Hills took 2 for 20 from his 2 overs while Putna took 2 for 28 from his two overs. The Bin Chooks made 9 for 202 from their allotted 20 overs. In reply Hillzy continued his good game with an unbeaten 39 while Scotty and Dylan G made 29 not out and 25 not out respectively. But as the season also showed, the Bin Chooks were too good and progressed first into the grand final.
While the Chooks are undefeated, the Swingers went into the match against The Lemons with the next best win loss record. Dropping only 2 matches and winning the remainder of their games with the bonus points, The Swingers went in as red hot favourites. Winning the toss, The Lemons batted first and what a start. Simpson (25*), Dornan (27*) and Gerrans (27*) all retired befoe the first wicket fell with the score on 95. Rhys Johnson hit 21 before Aaron Beckett also retired on 25 with only Ben Horrocks not scoring a run in the Lemons total of 6 for 177.
178 was well within the Swingers range. With a season run rate of over 9.3 runs per over, the Swingers would have been confident of chasing the total down. But cricket is a funny game. With the first 5 wickets to fall for only 29 runs and only 6 overs in to the chase; the Swingers were behind the 8 ball. Chinners hit 17 while Aiden Fraser hit an unbeaten 12 but the damage was done. Steve Ritchie the destroyer with 3 for 5 from 2 overs and the Lemons not dropping a single catch proved too good.
The Lemons, remarkably, are through to the big dance!
Grand Final information – The grad final will be held at Barnard Park West on Friday afternoon from 430pm. All supporters, spectators and future teams are encouraged to come down to the foreshore to watch some exciting cricket and to see who will be crowned the BT20 champions for the inaugural 2017/18 season!
