ANOTHER superb century from Gol Gol maestro Wade Hancock led his side to a massive Twenty20 final victory on Thursday night over Nichols Point.
Hancock’s unbeaten 108 from just 66 deliveries, and three wickets in Luke Hickey’s first over with the ball, helped the NSW side to a commanding 122-run victory against a youthful Pointers outfit.
A clean sweep of trophies is on the agenda for coach Adam Thomson’s side following victories in both white-ball finals, aiming for back-to-back premierships in the coming weeks.
In his three innings across the T20 competition, Hancock scored 208 runs at the same average, taking his tally in all formats with his home side this season to 975 runs.
A young Nichols Point outfit had impressed on their way to making the final but in the end, were no match for the class of their opposition.
“He definitely hit them really well, I think he got four boundaries in the second over so he was off and running at that point,” Thomson said of Hancock.
“Although they were missing a few, their bowling attack was still pretty strong with Luke Coates, Lewis Dichiera, Archie Walker and Riley Jobson.
“He was timing the ball beautifully barely gave them a sniff. There may have been a half-chance of a run-out in the 80s but otherwise he was in control.”
Following a single and a dot ball to start, the right-hander hit three fours and a six within six deliveries to get himself going.
While he carried his bat, Aidan Calarco also provided support with 44 from 33 deliveries and Jeremy Barnes an unbeaten 23 from 12 as Golly finished at 2/183.
Coates and Colby Marr each took a wicket.
After opening with two wides, Luke Hickey was hit for a single by Nick Blacker before putting the young Pointers right on the back foot.
Jobson and Dichiera were caught in successive deliveries and while Coates avoided the hat-trick with a single, Blacker was bowled next delivery to give the opener three wickets in four balls.
Coates (21), Marr (11) and Walker (10) tried their best to steady the ship but spinner Than Rajapakse was impressive with 3/11 to join Hickey’s 4/16 as Point were all out for 61.
“Losing three wickets in the first over certainly doesn’t help your run chase,” Thomson said.
“Luke hasn’t seen a heap of bowling since coming back from his hip surgery but he’s getting back towards full fitness and bowling a line and length he’s used to hitting.”
Thomson said he was hopeful the team could complete the clean sweep.
“It would be nice to do that, I think everyone would have eyes more on the two-day title than the white ball ones, so we’ll just see how we go,” he said.
“We’ll put out heads down and do the best we can against Coomealla Wentworth this round, who have a really good bowling attack and prepare ourselves for finals.”
