A season’s worth of hard work and hot afternoons in the sun culminated in grand finals last weekend for eight passionate cricket teams.
Mackay Cricket’s men’s one-day grand finals were played on Saturday afternoon across four grades.
FIRST GRADE
Norths took out the 1st Grade DBCT POOLE Cup final, narrowly defeating top-of-the-table Walkerston in a nail-biting finish on the main field at Harrup Park.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Norths were off to a shaky start at 3/45 before Lane Kohler and Wesley Dyer steadied the ship, creating a solid fourth wicket partnership and scoring 79 and 53 respectively.
Other contributions came from Chris Day with 22 and Joel Bruun with 19, helping Norths to a total of 204 all out after 44 overs.
The Walkerston bowling attack shared the accolades, with Nicholas Lotarski, Liam Newbery, Chris McEldowney, and Riley Jackson all taking two wickets each.
Walkerston were on their toes and quick in the field, with runouts accounting for the other two wickets.
With a target of 205 runs to win, Walkerston also made a slow start to the run chase, losing their first three wickets for 40 runs.
Another fourth-wicket partnership between Peter Blaik and Luke Jackson got things back on track, with the pair scoring 32 and 74 respectively.
Solid contributions further down the order came from Riley Jackson with 29 and Neil Gustavson with 22, but it wasn’t enough.
Walkerston batted out their 50 overs finishing on 8/200, frustratingly shy of the total set by Norths.
Kerrod Tortora was the pick of the bowlers for Norths finishing with 3/33 from 9 overs.
Mason Kohler and Joel Bruun took two wickets each and Michael Preston finished with one scalp.
“The win – bloody hell, that was pretty good,” said Norths’ captain Darryn Dyer.
“There was a core group of guys that kept showing up and putting in the hard yards.
“It was the first season for me as a captain, so it means a lot to me.”
SECOND GRADE
In another excitingly even match-up, the 2nd Grade DBCT Cup final between Pioneer Valley and Brothers ended in the most unlikely of draws.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, Pioneer Valley were off to a flying start thanks to opener and captain Troy Thompson’s 67 runs off 93 balls.
Lachlan Altmann’s 46, Sam Casey’s 29, and Benjamin Schembri’s 24 all helped Pioneer Valley to their total of 6/207 from their allocated 40 overs.
Taylor Everson took two of the six wickets with Sam DiFrancesco, Matthew Tomerini, Adam Vanderlinde, and Nicholas Beardmore all pitching in with a wicket each for Brothers.
Brothers responded with consistent performances throughout their batting line-up, runs coming from Brett Simpson with 49, Taylor Everson with 41, Andrew Herbert with 27, Adam Vanderlinde with 24, and Matthew Tomerini and Luke Podosky each with 23.
Brothers finished their 40 overs also on 207 runs, losing nine wickets in the process.
Contributing with the ball for Pioneer Valley was Bennet Reginato with three wickets, Harry Kirkwood with two, and Benjamin Schembri, Lachlan Altmann, and Ranju Somanathan taking a wicket each.
In the event of a draw, the team that finished the season with the most ladder points are successful, meaning top-of-the-table Pioneer Valley walked away with the cup.
THIRD GRADE
In the 3rd Grade One Day Shield, Pioneer Valley Green came out as victors against Pinnacle in a close match coming down to the last few overs.
Pioneer Valley won the toss and sent Pinnacle in to bat, with 61 runs from Matthew Boyd, 28 from Joel Bennington, and 20 from Brodie Lyon helping Pinnacle to a total of 9/176 off their allocated 35 overs.
Many contributed with the ball for Pioneer Valley with Glen Maclean taking three wickets, Cody and Jade Filewood each taking two, and Dean Zeller and Karl Zarb taking one wicket each.
A rocky start from Pioneer Valley had them at 3/32 before grand final-winning knocks of 65 from Cody Filewood and 46 not out from Karl Zarb got them over the line with four wickets in hand and nine balls to spare.
Great bowling from Justin Teys with three wickets and James Cross, Matt Woodland, and Damien Russell with one wicket each gave Pinnacle a chance at defending their total, but it wasn’t quite enough.
FOURTH GRADE
Across the road at Abbott Park, Souths Sharks defeated Pinnacle Gold in the 4th Grade One Day Shield final.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, Souths gradually built a solid total of 139 all out from 34.4 overs.
Contributions came from Kishan Bist with 35 runs not out, Sarajpal Singh with 29, and Gursimran Singh with 28.
Dhani Ram, Gurpreet Singh, Paramjeet Singh, and Tas So all took two wickets each for Pinnacle, with Ashley Fry taking one.
Pinnacle were off to a flying start with their top three Ashley Fry, Gurpreet Singh, and Jaswant Sandhu making 27, 31, and 19 runs respectively.
Souths then proceeded to tear through the rest of Pinnacle’s batting order, bowling them out for 106 in 32.1 overs.
Muhammad Wahab starred with the ball for Souths, finishing with figures of 4/15 off seven overs.
Kamal Giri took 3/19 off seven overs with Iqbal Singh, Ashish Rana, and Gursimran Singh taking one wicket each.
Congratulations to all teams on their successful 2021/22 seasons.
Norths defeated Walkerston in the 1st Grade final
Pioneer Valley and Brothers played out a draw in the 2nd grade final, with Pioneer Valley winning on ladder points. Photos: Kimberley Cahill
