Day of drama across TCI A-grade final round

THE platform set for an enthralling ending to TCI A-grade year with a day full of shocks.

James Bidgood of University is caught by Connor Philp of Northern Brothers Diggers in round eight A grade Toowoomba Cricket at Rockville Oval, Saturday, March 7, 2020. Picture: Kevin Farmer

CRICKET: A dramatic day of play has turned the TCI A-grade competition on its head.

It started at the top of the table at Captain Cook Reserve with minor premiers Western Districts hosting a Metropolitan-Easts side looking to secure second spot on the ladder.

Wests were sent in by the visitors and found themselves in all sorts of trouble early through their innings.

Jack Carter produced one of the individual efforts of the season on his way to figures of 7/46 from his 14.2 overs.

He amassed key scalps along the way, including Sam Neale (25 runs), Chris Gillam (eight) and Luke Neale (eight).

Perhaps the biggest of the lot was Rylan Martin, who came in at eight, and lifted Wests from a seemingly hopeless total of 7/54, with his knock of 53 lifting them to a defendable 119.

In response, a fired-up Shaun McCarthy tore through the top order of the Trojans in the remaining 11 overs of the day.

He took three wickets in six overs to restrict Mets to 3/7, needing 113 to ensure a home semi-final in a fortnight's time.

While Wests are in the enviable spot of having top spot all secured, captain Luke Neale said the game still carries a big importance as they look to take momentum into the grand final on March 28.

"We want to try and keep improving ourselves and continue to play some good cricket leading into the grand final, which hopefully results in a win next week," Neale said.

"We're trying to build confidence among everyone in their own game and we're hoping they can click."

Rain on Friday worked in the favour of bowlers, with 13 wickets falling in under 50 overs of play.

"There was a late start due to the pitch still being a bit wet," Neale said.

"The ball was sticking in the wicket and it was very hard to play shots with any confidence.

"We were able to capitalise in that key period late in the day.

"It's something we spoke about before going out to bowl, and we knew that the wicket could be different next week, so we needed to take advantage."

DIGGERS IN THE BOX SEAT

Sitting in third and needing a first innings victory to all-but secure a finals berth, Northern Brothers Diggers currently have control of their fixture against University.

Diggers won the toss and set their opponents in at Rockville Oval.

Solid knocks from captain Tully Willson (44) and Alex Taylor (41) were the high points, but ultimately the bowling attack of Diggers took honours, restricting them to 183.

Jayden Neundorf and Kieren Gibbs both finished with three wickets.

Diggers made a strong start to their innings with 24 overs left in the day.

Opener Patrick Sullivan added 43 as they closed out the day at 3/71, needing 113 runs to secure first innings points.

Diggers meet Uni

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HIGHFIELDS DOING ALL IT CAN

Needing an outright victory to keep their slim hopes alive, Highfields-Railways have taken big strides towards making that a reality.

Sending Southern Districts into bat at Middle Ridge Park, the Magpies were only able to muster 40 in their first innings.

Tom Hughes (5/16) and Andre Odendaal (3/16) did the damage with the ball.

Highfields-Railways responded in quick fashion, declaring its innings at 5/88 from 20.2 overs, with a quickfire 39 to Jeremy Cotter propelling them.

That left Southern Districts 13 overs to face in the day, and again they found the going tough, concluding the day at 5/24, requiring another 24 runs to make the Bulldogs bat again.

Hughes was again the man with the ball, taking 3/3 from five overs.

 

STATE OF PLAY

1. Western Districts 112.98

2. Metropolitan-Easts 88.61

3. Northern Brothers Diggers 77.83

4. Highfields-Railways 66.65

5. University 64.79

6. Southern Districts 41.98

Teams are awarded 16 points for an outright victory and 10 points for a first innings victory, regardless of the result of the match finishing in a draw or outright loss.

Each side also has the chance to earn incentive points, with 0.2 awarded for each wicket taken and 0.01 for each run scored.

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