That’s right. The Gladdies are going to the Big Show!
For the second time in 15 days at Moore Park 6, Red Sun put on more than 200, and the Gladdies chased it down.
We won the toss and sent Red Sun in, ready for the onslaught we knew would come. An early wicket to Marty helped, but they still put in some lusty blows, running at more than 6 an over for the first 9. The fielding was a little ragged in places, but two quick wickets to Jamie significantly changed the game, as their slogger went into his shell, conscious that he needed to get to 40. He did, but Jamie and Lach nabbed 2 more, so despite being 98 at drinks, they were five down, and the Gladdies were quietly confident. The second 18 started with a bang as they decided to have a go. But we held our nerve and kept looking for those last few wickets. Marty came back, despite a busted hand, to give us the breakthrough, but they’d already got to 200 with 5 overs to spare. But before anything got out of hand, the innings was snuffed out with two wickets in two balls to Soli, leaving us 209 to chase. Dan did an excellent job behind the stumps too, filling in for Kunal with a busted finger.
Terry copped a rough break early, but Dan and Kunal set about setting up a score, and with some great shots and excellent placement, they each put up more or less chanceless 40s, to put us right in the driving seat. Rob also kept things going, and despite a little wobble in the middle, we were 6 down with 70 odd to get in the last 11 overs. They bowled the occasional good over, but the long season seemed to be taking as much a toll on them as us, and their fielding deteriorated as they used up their bowling options. In the end, Dan fell one short of what would have been a very well deserved 50, and Kunal fittingly hit the winning run with a good 2 overs in the bank.
So we’ve earned ourselves a (much needed) week off, and a chance to finish the season with a trophy. There’s plenty of motivation too. Marty has announced he’s relocating south of the border before summer comp starts, so it would be nice to send him off a winner. Tragically, Jamie is unavailable for the final as he’ll be in Darwin at his brother’s wedding. On top of all that, it’s also six years since we once held any silverware, which equals our previous longest stretch without a premiership.
