General News
16 December, 2021
Knights, Cats set for T20 decider
COBDEN and Mortlake will vie for glory in South West Cricket’s Fonterra Twenty20 Cup grand final on Thursday night.
COBDEN and Mortlake will vie for glory in South West Cricket’s Fonterra Twenty20 Cup grand final on Thursday night.
The two clubs qualified for the decider to be held at Terang Cricket Ground through the semi-finals last week, with the victor set to progress to Warrnambool’s $15,000 winner-takes-all Sungold Cup.
The Knights and Cats featured in this same contest in 2019/20, with Mortlake winning the contest and eventually that year’s Sungold Cup.
But Cobden skipper Johno Benallack believes his side is better equipped for the big stage this time around and is backing in his side to perform strongly.
“Probably the last couple of years we fluked our way through but this year we’ve played good cricket and deserve to be there,” he said.
“The last couple of years we’ve been fairly young and inexperience and probably relied on one or two to have good days whereas this year it’s been more team-based, everyone is playing their role and we’ve been training to get better.”
Cats captain Todd Robertson said his side was excited at the challenge of facing Cobden.
Asked what made Mortlake such a successful Twenty20 outfit, he felt it was his side’s ability to do the little things well.
“To be honest I’m not 100 per cent sure what it is but I think there are aspects of the game that are really important in T20 cricket,” Robertson said.
“Those being fielding and running between the wickets, they’re two big keys to Twenty20 cricket and two things we like to pride ourselves on.
“Being able to read the game situation (is another) and our experience is another thing.
“We’ve played a lot of T20 cricket whereas other clubs probably haven’t played as much as we have.”
Benallack said the Cats would prove a mighty task to conquer, but he is confident his side’s foundation will hold strong.
“We’ve just got to look at our own form and back our own skillsets in,” he said.
“We know they have a strong bowling attack, you don’t usually get too many loose balls so we’ve just to try and limit our dot balls and back our bowlers in.
“I think the slow bowlers will be the key.
“Obviously at Terang it can be a bit two-paced and when I played in the Hudson Shield game the quicker bowlers came on really well so I think the slower bowlers will play a big part in the game.”
Robertson is just as wary of the Knights, but is confident the Cats can win another short-form title.
“We’ve still got to get the fundamentals right,” he said.
“Cobden’s a really young, high-energy side and they field and bowl really well but we just have to match them in that regard.”
Thursday’s contest starts at 5.30pm.