MILDURA Settlers are on track to snare their fourth straight Sunraysia Cricket Association First Division premiership after overcoming a spirited Irymple in their semi-final clash on Sunday.
Written off as “Dad’s Army” when they were outside the top four last month, Setts’ elder statesmen, Richie Wyld (6/60) and Mark Cleary (3/32), bowled their team to victory late on day two to set up a grand-final stoush with Gol Gol this weekend.
Irymple were dismissed for 179 from 76.4 overs after Setts were all out for 221 on Saturday. Jason Morrison top-scored for Setts with 98 off 103 balls.
In the other semi-final, Gol Gol (149) fought back well to rout Coomealla Wentworth for 109 at George Gordon Oval, with medium pacer Jayden Brooks (3/6) and opening bowler Luke Hickey (3/26) the chief destroyers.
Setts’ victory keeps their stellar finals run going. Since the 2007-08 season, they have won nine top-grade premierships.
“It feels great, but it was a long, tough day in the field,” Setts skipper Braidyn Turner said moments after Wyld took the final wicket to secure the triumph at Mildura Senior College’s No.1 Oval.
“We were meant to be too old, but it was the old fellas who got us home in the end.
“When they were 1/110, I was just telling the boys that anything can happen if we stick with it.
“Thank God we had Mark Cleary and Richie Wyld to win us the game late in the day, especially ‘Clears’, who got us some quick wickets after tea.
“We just persisted all day. Our fielding and bowling were really good, and the results came.”
Turner did, however, lament his side’s “below-par” performance with the bat on Saturday.
“I thought we left a lot of runs out there. We should have made 300 after the start we made, where were in a good position at 1/120,” he said.
“We lost some quick wickets, getting out to shots that we shouldn’t have played.
“But hopefully we assess our situations a lot better next week and don’t lose those quick wickets.”
At Dareton, Coomie lost 6/14 to be all out for 109 on Sunday, ending their unbeaten run since Christmas.
It came after Gol Gol were bowled out for 149 off 55.3 overs on Saturday. Liam Freeman sliced through the Gol Gol middle and lower order, capturing 7/53 off 18.3 overs.
Opener Shac Thomas led the way for Gol Gol with a quick-fire 52 and tailender Matt Cameron hit 21.
Gol Gol captain-coach Adam Thomson said he was disappointed with his team’s showing on day one.
“The wicket seamed around a bit and I thought our score was probably under par,” he said.
“Shac had a 28-ball 50 at the top for us. I reckon he got to 45 off 25 balls and was on fire. It looked like he was batting on a different wicket.
“But then they fought back and Liam Freeman got four wickets in no time at all.
“I reckon that was Matt’s highest-ever First Division score. He’s had years where he’s only made four or five runs for the whole season.”
When the Blues started day two at 3/60, Thomson felt the odds were in favour of a Coomie win.
“I thought it was 60-40 their way. But I knew if we took our chances, we could still win,” he said.
“We’ve had a massive change in personnel this season and we’re all rapt about making the grand final.”
