Naracoorte cricket shocks as underdogs win
Underdogs shock in Naracoorte cricket
Slashing: Kyby batsman Dave Farley cuts in front of wicket keeper Brodie Foster during the Tigers' exciting successful run chase on Saturday.
Wayne Mitchell bats for Padthaway on Saturday.
Lucindale bowler Michael McGurk.
The Naracoorte cricket season was turned on its head in last Saturday's semi-finals, with the top two teams knocked out in thrilling finishes.
Townies had been undefeated for the whole season and hadn't missed the grand final in a number of years, but they were knocked out by Kybybolite in a one-wicket nail-biter.
On the other side of town, Wayne Mitchell produced an unbeaten century to guide Padthaway to an upset win over the strong Lucindale side in a game which also finished in the very last over.
That leaves this Saturday's grand final with a very unlikely Padthaway v Kyby match-up.
The grand final will be drought-breaking for someone, as Padthaway last won the premiership way back in 1993, while Kyby's last win was in 2013-14.
In the 1 v 4 semi-final at Wortley Oval last weekend, Townies batted first and struggled against some tight Kyby bowling.
Opener Matt Smith batted well for his 41 and got support from a number of others including Brad Redding (27) and Brodie Foster (22) as they progressed the score slowly.
Andrew Fitzgerald (23no) held the middle to lower order together, but after Daniel Pedler, Stu Shepherd, Lachie Hood and Brodie Smith had all bowled well early, Brad Davies came on and took four wickets to keep the Townies in check. They were bowled out off the last ball for a below-par 169.
The Kyby innings started with an early wicket but Shepherd and Dave Farley kept the runs coming.
Kyby stayed ahead of the run rate with a series of handy contributions but Townies kept taking wickets to stay in the game.
Pedler made a very important 25 not out and got great support from the tail as the victory target neared. With only a handful of runs needed, Foster took two wickets in the last over to make it even more exciting, but Kyby number 11 Rowan Ham hit a two and then a single off the second-last ball to claim a thrilling win.
At IB Edwards Oval, Lucindale batted first and looked set for a mammoth score at 1/118 with Tom Rankine (65 off 64) and Shane McGurk (34) good early.
But then Padthaway came back into the game with some tight bowling, with James Stevens taking two important wickets, and Lachie Crisp and Kyle Hurst also taking two wickets.
They kept Lucindale to 8/209, still a more than competitive score.
When Padthaway fell to 1/0, it seemed Lucindale was on the way to an easy win, but Wayne Mitchell joined Dillon Ingenito (31) for a 68-run partnership, then Riley McCallum (38) added another 106 with Mitchell to take Padthaway within reach of the victory target.
The game went right down to the final over, with Lucindale unable to dismiss Mitchell, who brought up his century and got his side over the line with an excellent unbeaten 109.
The grand final between Padthaway and Kyby will be played at Wortley Oval on Saturday afternoon, depending on the hot weather.