Sport
19 January, 2024
Bulls dominate Twenty20
POMBORNEIT has won back-to-back flags in the South West Cricket Association’s Twenty20 competition.
The Bulls celebrated a six-wicket win over Cobden under lights last Saturday night.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat first in front of a large crowd at the Cobden Recreation Reserve.
Spinner Tharaka Sendanayake took the new ball, getting an early breakthrough with Cobden opener Matt Boyle trapped in front LBW.
The home team then solidified with a 65-run partnership between Jonty Robertson and Matt Kemp, the latter dismissed by a sharp catch by Dave Murphy, keeping up to the stumps to Sam Darcy.
Danussika Bandara took the vital wicket of Cobden Twenty20 captain Johno Benallack, bowling him as he moved across his stumps in an attempt to hit to the vacant fine leg area.
Robertson and Angus Uwland batted the innings out to finish on 3/112.
The score looked around par, considering the scores previously made in the semi-final and earlier game, both played on the same pitch on Saturday.
Sendanayake was the best of the bowlers for the Bulls, conceding just 11 runs from his four overs.
The Pomborneit run chase started disastrously with opener Dave Murphy run out in the first over and Grant Place chopping one onto his stumps off Cobden new ball bowler Simon Murfett in the third over to have the Bulls reeling at 2/12.
Slowly but surely Tom Darcy and Tharaka Sendanayake went about rebuilding the innings, putting on 62 for the third wicket before Darcy chipped to mid-wicket in the 12th over, out for 26 from 31 balls.
His innings included two fours and a six.
Sendanayake then upped the ante, sending shots all around the ground and regularly finding the boundary as he rapidly took Pomborneit up to Cobden’s total.
Skipper Matt Bignell came and went for one before Sendanayake was joined by Josh Place, who worked the strike, eventually hitting the winning runs with a four behind point, as the Bulls passed Cobden’s score after 16.2 overs to bring up the club’s fourth Twenty20 title.
Place finished unbeaten on eight, but it was Sendanayake, with his second successive half century in a Twenty20 grand final, who was the star, unbeaten on 62 from 52 balls.
His innings included eight boundaries and he deservedly won man of the match.
Sendanayake was also announced after the game as the player of the Twenty20 competition.
For skipper Matt Bignell it was the first senior grand final success of his career; it was Danissika Bandara's first premiership at Pomborneit and for junior players Finn Tolland, Gavin Reynolds and Ben Whytcross it was their first grand final win at any level.
Pomborneit now enters the knock-out Twenty20 tournament in Warrnambool, playing a quarter final against Dennington at Dennington on Sunday morning.
In earlier games on Saturday, Pomborneit defeated Bookaar in their round seven clash at Frederick St, bowling the home team out for 104.
Gavin Reynolds took his first five wicket haul at senior level with 5/12 from his four overs.
Dave Murphy dominated with the bat with an unbeaten 63 from 38 balls, an innings that included six fours and three sixes as the Bulls recorded a four wicket win, passing Bookaar’s score in the 15th over.
Batting first at Cobden in the semi-final, Pomborneit lost regular early wickets, the innings saved by 34 from Sendanayake and a partnership of 32 for the sixth wicket between Josh Place (20 not out) and Sam Darcy (19) as the Bulls posted 7/113 from their 20 overs.
The Pomborneit bowlers were tight in reply, restricting Heytesbury/Princetown to 8/94 to record a 19-run win and book a spot in the grand final.
Spin trio Sendanayake, Bandara and Bignell took two wickets each, while teenagers Finn Tolland and Gavin Reynolds took a crucial wicket each, both dismissing a Heytesbury/Princetown opener.
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