NARACOORTE Townies are the 2012-13 Naracoorte cricket premiers.
They defeated Kybybolite by 20 runs in an exciting grand final at Wortley Oval on Saturday.
The match ebbed and flowed throughout, with Kyby seemingly on target to reach Townies' total of 167, but the Tigers faltered when it counted, losing 6/18 to fall short.
Townies captain Jason McClure won the toss and chose to bat first on Townies' home ground, but they made a poor start when Kevin Marshall was bowled for a duck in the second over.
Paul Schroder (27) was joined by Brad Redding (25) and they added 43 runs, with Redding the beneficiary of three dropped catches before being well caught by Stuart Shepherd from Michael Pannell's bowling.
Brendon Emms (39) kept the runs ticking while Schroder held up an end in a 57-run stand - but then both batsmen were dismissed with the score at 102 and Townies ground to a halt.
When Brodie Foster was caught behind, Townies were 5/118 after 34 overs and seemed set for a score well below par.
But veteran Shane Kavanagh (39) stepped up and kept the runs coming with some nice boundaries, getting cameo support from Trevor Sayers and McClure as Townies made 49 handy runs from their last six overs.
The Kyby bowlers generally did a fair job, with Ollie Barr, Lee Curnow and Matt Turner taking two wickets each and Michael Pannell and Shepherd both bowling well.
In reply, Kyby got away to a solid start to be 0/36 after nine overs, but then the Redding brothers struck with three quick wickets to rip the heart out of the Tigers' top order, leaving them 3/53.
Brad Davies (13) and Michael Pannell (50) put together a handy stand of 35 to get the innings back on track, then after Davies was caught, Pannell was joined by Matt Turner (14) for a 41-run stand which had Kyby in the box seat.
At 4/129 from 31 overs - needing just 39 runs from the last nine overs - Kyby would have been firm favourites, but Foster's arrival at the bowling crease removed Turner, then Brad Redding came back on and bowled Pannell in a big moment in the match.
Kyby then faltered badly, succumbing to the pressure and losing 6/18, with the last four batsmen dismissed all going for ducks.
The Townies bowling and fielding was excellent - apart from the tally of 29 sundries, including 18 wides - with Foster's 2/11 very important, Brad Redding claiming two vital wickets and Justin Redding taking 2/28.
Trophy presentations for the season followed the match. Individual winners were: cricketer of the year - Michael Cappelluti (Demons) with 16 votes, Stuart Shepherd (Kyby) runner-up 13; batting aggregate - Lee Curnow (Kyby) with 475 runs; batting average - Shepherd 49.00; bowling aggregate - Cappelluti with 19 wickets; bowling average - Brad Davies (Kyby) with 8.21; fielding - Hamish Watson (Demons) with 20 votes, Steve Abramovic runner-up 15.