Point to prove in finals clash

NICHOLS Point are ready to make a bold statement in their first Sunraysia cricket top-grade finals appearance since re-entering the competition in 2015.

The Pointers came into the Sunraysia Cricket Association from Red Cliffs in 2011 and joined the First Division ranks in 2015.

Luke Coates’ troops finished this year’s regular season in third spot, setting up a semi-final clash with second-placed Irymple at Henshilwood Oval on Sunday, after the forecast extreme heat forced the cancellation of Saturday’s play.

The game will be a 40-over one-dayer.

Coates gave an insight on match eve on what it could mean to the club to advance to the grand final with a win against the Swallows.

“It would be amazing,” the playing coach said. “It’s what every club plays for and seeing it’s our First Division team’s first go at finals, it’d blow the roof off.

“It really would mean that much to a lot of people in the club who have worked very hard to get us to this point.”

The Pointers’ deep batting line-up has helped propel them into the finals reckoning.

Leigh Thomson-Mathews has been in good form at the tail end of the season, but it’s been the likes of Shannon Bowen, Shaun Mathews and Kaushik Aphale who have been the backbone of the Pointers’ batting line-up this season.

Asked what the keys to victory were this weekend, Coates said: “We’ve just got to stick to our game plan, and that’s bat, bowl and field well, and let our personal traits and the skills we’ve got work for us.

“They’re the same as us. They’re very competitive and it should be a good game.”

Irymple skipper Mark Thomson said his team was coming into the finals in season-best form.

“We finished the home-and-away season very well with an outright win (over Mildura Settlers) and a victory over the top side (Gol Gol),” he said.

“We have a good spread with our bowling, which is our strength, and we’ve improved our batting depth this season.”

Thomson saw the game as a “battle of our bowling against their batting”, which he described as “pretty explosive at the top of the order”.