LIAM PHILLIPS
NURIOOTPA and Sandy Creek
will contest the Barossa & Light
Cricket Association A1 two-day
grand final this weekend after upsetting
minor premiers Tanunda
and second-placed Angaston over
the weekend.
Tanunda won the toss on Saturday
and decided to bat first on its
home wicket, but lost opener Christian
Gattermaur for four runs in a
sign of things to come.
Opening partner Sam Colquhoun
put together a nice innings to finish
on 69 from 102 deliveries, but his
running mates continued to fall.
Tom Giles swung the game for the
Tigers as he removed number-three
Coby Cornish to make it 2/51, and
then ran out Luke Snowden second-
ball, and also removed Trent
Goers for just three runs to quickly
make it 4/67.
The tail failed to wag in any
meaningful way as Giles (3/37) and
Mitch Norton (3/11) cleaned up Tanunda
for 125.
Nuri’s chase started well, with
opener and captain Luke Steinborner
working his way to 50 from 74
deliveries, and number-three Jordan
Roesler chipped in with 24 to leave
the Tigers at 2/85 when he was
caught-and-bowled by Colquhoun.
Tanunda’s Trent Goers then
caught fire with the ball, three quick
wickets on his way to figures of
6/64 in 25 overs of work to leave
Nuri at 7/101.
But Daniel Doecke wasn’t going
to let his side choke away a spot
in the big dance and put together a
composed innings of 58 runs from
104 deliveries after coming out at
number eight, carrying his side to
177 before falling as the last wicket.
While the first innings result
was locked up, Tanunda decided to
come out for a swing for a chance
at an unlikely outright win, with
Cornish (51 off 23 deliveries) and
Johnathon Justin (30 from 19) helping
the Magpies race to 177 in just
18 overs as Jack Mader (5/32) and
Norton (4/45) piled up the wickets.
With 32 overs to survive to make
it through to the grand final, Nuri’s
nerves started to catch up to it.
Both openers fell for ducks to
Goers as the Tigers had no interest
in scoring runs, but were quickly at
5/6 and in need of the finish line.
Goers took two more wickets on
the way to figures of 4/10 with 10
maidens in the second innings and
10/74 for the match, but with the
Tigers at 8/28 and just two wickets
away from an all-time collapse,
stumps were called and the ticket to
the grand final was punched.
In Angaston, Sandy Creek won
the toss and decided to bat first
away from home.
Angaston’s Jayden Antonie
showed his class to remove both
openers for a combined 20 runs, before
captain Rhys Handtke fell for
one run to make it 3/23.
Youngster Austin Poulton
stepped up in a big way to deliver a
much-needed 39 runs after coming
in at number three, but he needed
help, and it arrived in the form of
Jamie Diener.
Diener played with reckless abandon,
dispatching 10 of the 56 balls
he faced over the fence for sixes
on his way to what proved to be a
match-winning knock of 108 runs
before being bowled by Jayden Antonie
(3/49 with seven maidens).
After falling to 3/23 early on,
Sandy Creek survived to bat out its
entire 75 overs to finish on 9/231.
While it was a massive total, Angaston
was up for the fight.
Despite also falling into an early
hole at 3/32, Greg Bain (47 from
62 deliveries) and Liam Peel (52
from 93) led the way as seven Blues
made their way into double figures.
It came down to Angaston needing
67 runs from its 11th wicket
partnership, but after Peel helped
his side to 210, he was run-out by
Jamie Sibbick to book the