By ADEM SARICAOGLU
KEALBA Green Gully’s quest for a hat-trick of successive Luscombe Shields is on track after it advanced to this weekend’s grand final on Sunday.
The North West Metropolitan Cricket Association’s most successful club of recent memory had to get past Gladstone Park on semi-final weekend to book its ticket to the decider, and the Cougars did so with relative ease by seven wickets.
On Saturday Kealba’s bowlers got on top of the Gladstone Park order, knocking it over in 67 overs for 149 runs.
In response the following day, the Cougars were in a little bit of trouble at 3/46, but with Andrew Webb (73 not out) and skipper Evan Long (37 not out) at the crease, Kealba steadied to reach its target in the 53rd over.
“Obviously it was a pretty hot game, but all finals are usually that way and I’m pretty happy with the boys and the way they stuck at it,” Long told Star shortly after the win.
“We knew exactly what we were aiming to achieve and obviously it was a grand final berth, but bowling first we were pretty confident we could keep the opposition down to a low score, and we were pretty happy with 149.”
Matthew Nadzielski was the key figure with the ball for Kealba, claiming four wickets from his 20 overs in the middle.
Also handy were Jarrod Catania (3/38) and Danny Viani (2/19), while Andrew Webb (1/27) also got among the wickets to help set up the win on Saturday.
“They (the bowlers) were all good and made it a lot easier for me, we held our catches in the field and most importantly, today Andrew Webb stood up with the bat making 73,” Long said.
“Only losing one wicket today after losing two overnight made it a lot easier on the boys watching, but obviously regardless of how you win, the most important thing is that you do. So it was a really good team effort from everyone.”
While the Cougars are no strangers to grand final cricket, this weekend’s crescendo will be Long’s first as Kealba’s captain-coach.
“I’m excited for the challenge, that’s for sure,” Long said.
“Obviously being a first-time captain is pretty exciting for me and the boys, but as we’ve spoken about all year, our main aim is to obviously achieve three in a row.”
