Subbies finals: Rummans, Splatt play starring roles as Fields, Oaks progress to grand final
Great rivals Oakleigh and Caulfield will contest season honours after comfortable wins in the north-south section VSDCA preliminary finals.
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They finished first and second on the ladder, and Oakleigh and Caulfield will resume their great rivalry in this weekend’s VSDCA north-south section grand final at Warrawee Park.
The clubs met at the same venue in a classic decider in 2015-16, the Oaks triumphant by nine runs.
And they came together at Warrawee in last season’s preliminary finals, when Oakleigh held out despite a brilliant century from Graeme Rummans.
The Oaks went on to thrash Elsternwick in the grand final, with their great pacemen Alex Jones and Michael Splatt splintering the Wickers.
Splatt and Rummans have had stunning seasons, and had starring roles in their teams’ preliminary finals victories on the weekend.
At Oakleigh, Splatt grabbed the first four wickets as St Bernard’s, chasing 9-178, crashed to 4-7.
They fought their way back into the match through fifth-wicket pair Chris Spinella (54) and Tristan Kassis (40).
But Connor Byrne broke their 92-run partnership, and from there the Oaks finished off the visitors for 121.
Right-armer Splatt was superb again with 5-33 from 16 overs, lifting his tally of wickets to 42.
Jones captured 3-33 off 20.4. He’s taken 33 wickets for the season.
Oakleigh had slumped from 0-62 to 9-133 on Saturday, but last pair Dravid Rao (28no) and Geoff Latham (17no) added an unbroken and crucial 45. The tale of the innings was in the tail.
“It was pretty dire for us but we just wanted to face every ball we had, bat the 80 overs, and those two (Rao and Latham) batted very well,’’ Oakleigh captain Brendan McGuinness said.
“Dravid has probably been starved of opportunities to bat higher up the order. He proved he’s capable of doing that.
“And Geoff is a really tenacious batsman. For a fast bowler he really applies himself when he’s got a bat in his hand. He dug in for us. They combined a bit of grit and a bit of determination and a bit of fortune and we ended up with 180 on the board. Good result.’’
Former state player Graeme Vimpani played another good knock at the top, his 46 coming off 77 deliveries.
But Oakleigh’s middle-order was again short of runs.
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At Caulfield Park, the home side humbled Kew.
The Fielders put up 9-236 off their 80 overs and shook out the visitors for 68 in 34.5 overs.
Skipper Jacob Thorne had an outstanding match, capturing 3-15 off 13 overs after making 72 on day one.
But again Rummans top scored for Caulfield. His 82 came off 150 balls and swelled his run aggregate this season to 883 at 80.3.
He’d already broken his own club record for most runs in a season.
And with a substantial innings in the grand final he could go past Mick Allen’s VSDCA record of 957.
“Unbelievable,’’ Thorne said of Rummans’s season.
“He’s been brilliant … his consistency has been there all the way through. He’s made a contribution in just about every game. If you make a hundred and then a duck and then a hundred and a duck, it’s not ideal.
“But he’s made runs in just about every innings he’s played.
“Typical ‘Rummo’ innings really (against Kew). Solid early, solid in defence. Not too worried about run rates or anything like that. Just worried about building a platform for the team. He built into his innings nicely, was able to change gears and work through tough periods.’’
Thorne has won the past four Val Holten medals as the VSDCA player of the season.
He won’t make it five on the hop, but he’s still had an excellent season, hitting 405 runs and snaffling 34 wickets with his offies.
The grand final will start at 12.30pm.