Bacchus Marsh returns to the top of GDCA McIntyre Shield mountain

Bacchus Marsh stamped itself as one of the most dominant teams in GDCA history on Saturday as secured the McIntyre Shield premiership against Sunbury United.

Bacchus Marsh celebrates its GDCA McIntyre Shield premiership win. Picture: Supplied

Bacchus Marsh is back on top of the Gisborne District Cricket Association.

The Bulls were too good for Sunbury United on Saturday, the seven-wicket win the club’s third McIntyre Shield premiership in four seasons.

After a semi-final loss last season – following back-to-back flags in 2017-18 and 2018-19 – Bacchus Marsh lost just one match all season and had the competition’s No.1 wicket-taker and No.2 run-scorer.

Such was the club’s dominance of the competition it’s Second XI won the second tier Johnstone Shield grand final by 108 runs over Wallan while it’s Third and Fourth XIs also reached the grand final.

Bulls captain-coach James Lidgett spoke of the pride in his club to achieve what it has this season.

“It’s a pretty good effort from the club,” he said.

“If you’re talking about depth we had our top four grades in grand finals on the weekend and the top two had a win.”

Sunbury United’s batting has been a major weapon this season so it was a bit of a surprise when Lidgett won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first.

However, it paid immediate dividends with Jared Taylor dismissing Damien Edwards for one and Dilan Chandima run out by Shaun Taylor for six.

Chandima smashed 749 runs in nine home-and-away matches this season, including four centuries, and his dismissal was critical.

“That was a big moment in the game for sure,” Lidgett said.

“It came about through pressure, we bottled him up and they took a risky single, Shaun picked it up cleanly and threw down the stumps.

“We were chasing Shaun all around and he was telling us all about it, he’s a bit of a character.

Rhys Watson in action for Bacchus Marsh. Picture: Sarah Matray

“It was on the back of what we call Bulls cricket – really tight bowling, not giving them an inch – and it creates wickets in different ways.”

Ryan Billinghurst (46) and Amrit Sandhu (39) rebuilt the Bees’ innings with a 70-run stand but when they fell in quick succession it triggered a collapse of 7-29 and a total of just 123.

Bulls opening bowler Rhys Watson was named man-of-the-match for his incredible figures of 2-5 from 6.2 overs.

“He finished with ridiculous figures to be honest and it was a very deserving recipient,” Lidgett said.

“When (the opportunity) was handed to him, he set the game up for us and set the tone.”

With a tricky total to chase Bacchus Marsh was patient with the bat.

Kieran Atkin top-scored with 24 and Shaun Taylor (23) and Bulls president Scott Wakefield (20) finished the job with five overs to spare.

“I think our experience with the bat stood up, everyone chipped in with runs,” Lidgett said.

“Kieran wanted to win a premiership pretty bad and did everything he could to do that.

“He’s contributed massively in the last few games and has been a big part in getting to where we did.”

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A whirlwind knock from Bulls opener Kapil Dua earned him man-of-the-match honours in the Johnstone Shield grand final.

Dua scored 65 of Bacchus Marsh’s first 88 runs when he was dismissed, while Mace Cousins added 49, to set the foundations their team’s 8-183.

Wallan were never in the hunt and Bacchus Marsh’s 21 extras was the highest score as the Magpies were dismissed for 75.

In the Jensen Shield, Macedon claimed the premiership with a thrilling four-wicket win over Romsey.

Chris Ingleton top-scored with 30 for the Cats, while Brendon Scott hit 29 and claimed 2-31, as they chased down the Redbacks’ 7-138 with just five balls to spare.