IRYMPLE will take on Workers Gol Gol in the first Sunraysia Cricket Association White Ball Cup final next month.
The Swallows bounced back from last week’s loss on Saturday with a comfortable victory over Mildura East while Workers had a similarly easy victory over Mildura West to set up the final on February 9 at John Hall Oval.
Irymple captain Jordan Payne was pleased with the way his side responded after going down to Workers last week and said earning a place in the final was meaningful.
“Being the inaugural one-day cup, you don’t plan to be in this position – especially with the Twenty20s being introduced and the new format – so we’re stoked to be in the one-day final and are really looking forward to it,” he said.
“Hopefully we can string it together.”
Irymple’s bowlers shone in Saturday’s match after losing the toss, taking wickets at regular intervals to never give Mildura East a chance of stringing any meaningful partnerships together.
Chase Stone finished with 3/15 off seven overs while Dan Coghlan snared 3/16 off eight and Mark Thomson and Dean Fairlie each claimed two scalps.
Josh Berry carried his bat for Mildura East, occupying the crease for 126 balls for his unbeaten 32.
Brinder Singh was the only other batsman in double figures with 17.
“We got the ball swinging early which Chase (Stone) really took advantage of and then we pretty much put them in a bit of a stranglehold,” Payne said.
“We had them 4/11 and would have really liked to have rattled through them for a bit less than 80, but that’s cricket.
“You get a partnership here and there and a little bit of luck.”
Irymple were never troubled in the run chase, overtaking the target in the 19th over for the loss of four wickets.
“We went into the break and wanted to bat positively,” Payne said.
“Obviously 80 is a small total but we didn’t want to drag it out like we have in the last few one-day games.
“We got the runs in 18 or 19 overs – lost a few wickets along the way.”
