MORTON PARK, CENTRAL ROAD, BLACKBURN

Blackburn                         10 / 130

Donvale                        10 / 89

Match won by Blackburn

Donvale, who finished second in the ladder, was the opponent for the grand final. Due to an anomaly in the home and away schedule these team had not played each other during the year so it would be an interesting contest. Donvale were known as a strong batting team with two of their batsmen being the number one and two run makers in the competition (one of the batsmen had scored 3 centuries!). Blackburn on the other hand was a good all-round team with bowling depth and had not conceded more than 141 runs in any one match. This was going to be a great match!

James won the toss and decided to bat on a clear morning but with an outfield very wet from the dew. Jamie and Tony opened the innings. The Donvale opening bowlers kept it very tight and the score slowly progressed to 9 after 8 overs. Jamie and Tony were starting to look more confident but unfortunately in the 10^th over Jamie tried to pull and short ball and played on to be bowled for 8 with the score on 17. This brought James to the crease and together with Tony he started to build a solid partnership. The tight bowling combined with the slow outfield restricted the run rate so by drinks Blackburn had only 50 runs on the board but did have nine wickets in hand. Blackburn was reasonably placed but the team would need to push the run rate in the second half of the innings. Tony and James resumed the innings with intent and started to up the run rate. In the 29^th over Tony popped a catch up to short mid-off to be out for 24 with the score on 66. Callum was next in and was looking to play shots from early in his innings. Unfortunately as he was getting into his stride he was caught at mid wicket for 15 with the score on 98 after 38 overs. Matt joined James but this was to be a short lived partnership. In the next over James was caught in slips to an excellent diving catch for a well played 42 with the score on 99. Mickey joined Matt but was out, adjudged LBW, for 4 two overs later. Blackburn was looking shaky at 5/105 after 41 overs, still needing at least another 40 to 50 runs to post a competitive score. Michael and Matt tried to push the run rate but an over later Matt was out bowled for 8 and next over Michael was also out bowled for 2. Blackburn 7/113 after 43 overs. Ish and Harry batted through the next 3 overs to take the score to 121 before Ish was out bowled for 7. Harry went next over for 1 which brought Rithvik and Tom to the crease with 4 overs to go. Together they took the score to 130 with Tom being run out on the last ball for 3 and Rithvik undefeated on 5. Final score 130 from the 50 overs – a total which was 20 – 30 runs short of the target but one which could be defended.

Day 2 dawned bright and sunny but again the outfield was wet so scoring was going to be slow. The bowling was opened with the regular pairing of Jack and Ish. Jack bowled the first over and was on target from ball one. With his third ball he captured his first wicket, bowling the opening bat with a great inswinger. In his next over he had the other opener caught Rithvik at mid off. Donvale 2/3 and Jack 2/0! The two early wickets had brought Donvale’s best batsmen to the crease and the Blackburn bowlers knew that this partnership was going to be key to the result of the match. The Donvale batsmen, Erasmus and Grace, rose to the occasion and weathered some great fast bowling from Jack and began to build a very solid partnership taking the score to 2/50 at drinks. During this period the Blackburn bowlers (Jack, Ish, James, Tom, Jamie and Harry) all bowled a very good line and length to keep the scoring down. After drinks the Donvale batsmen were looking very comfortable but with tight bowling the run rate was starting to creep up. At the end of the 30^th over the score was 67 needing another 64 runs at just over 3 an over. Then Jamie and Jack combined to break the partnership! Jack picked up a great catch at short mid on to have Erasmus out for 33 off the bowling of Jamie. This was the break through Blackburn had been looking for. Jamie picked up his second wicket (LBW) in his next over – Donvale 4/74 off 33 overs. The game was in the balance with Grace still at the wicket for Donvale and looking in fine form. James came back into the attack and in his second over had the Donvale number 6 batsman caught by Ish at a backward short leg. Donvale 5/85 off 36 overs with the balance starting to move to Blackburn. Next over Jamie and Jack combined again to have Grace caught by Jack off the bowling of Jamie for a great 44. Donvale 6/87 and the momentum with Blackburn. James then took two wickets in the next over, bowled and LBW, to have Donvale reeling at 8/88. First ball in the next over Jack was in the action again, this time combining with Michael for a fantastic run out. Finally 2 balls later the innings was all over when Jamie took the last wicket caught and bowled. Donvale all out for 89 with their last 6 wickets falling for only 4 runs in 4 overs!

Key performances in the game were James (42) and Tony (24) combining for a partnership of 49. Jack’s initial bowling spell of 2/11 to capture the early wickets plus his 2 great catches to dismiss the best Donvale batsmen and a run out. James’s (3/16) and Jamie’s (4/27) bowling at the end to wrap up the Donvale innings.

Another fantastic effort by the team. To win a premiership and to be undefeated all season has been a great effort and something to be proud off – well done boys!