VSDCA T20 final: Preston and Brighton chase first silverware of season

Preston continued its red-hot post-Christmas form to book its first Subbies T20 final and will face competition heavyweight Brighton.

Preston bowler Kyle Walsh. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Preston will play its first VSDCA T20 final in club history next week after its fairytale run continued on Tuesday night.

The Bullants secured a shot at the title with a comprehensive 61-run win over hot favourites Endeavour Hills at Preston City Oval.

They will face Subbies heavyweight Brighton in the decider after the Tonners beat Spotswood by 86 runs.

James Wigginton (70 not out) and Imal Liyanage (63) were the heroes with the bat, combining for a 112-run second-wicket partnership to put the home team in the box seat at 2-166.

In reply, Endeavour Hills were all out 105 as Kanishka Boteju (3-8) and Kyle Walsh (3-30) ran through the visitors, Walsh snaring the critical wicket of Sri Lanka superstar Tillakaratne Dishan for 36.

Preston bowler Kanishka Boteju. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Preston skipper Michael Stretton said runs on the board was a critical factor in the win.

“It started with Imal and Kanishka at the top and then Imal and James put a great partnership together and played a really mature but aggressive brand of cricket,” he said.

“Any time there’s a score on the board in a final, it can be quite difficult, so there’s a lot of credit to those two.

“Imal started the season really well, you just watch him and can see he’s a quality player.

He’s very damaging as an aggressive batsman and I think he can do that sort of damage at any level, he had a really good (T20 international) series for Qatar and he’s come back and taken that through.

“James has been hampered by injuries in the last few years and has done a lot of work on his body to get himself right.

“I’d imagine it’s probably the most games he’s played in a season in a while and he’s just playing with that confidence and rhythm.”

Qatar international, Liyange has been particularly impressive after scoring 195 runs in five T20 Internationals against Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia before Christmas and then 235 runs in seven matches for Preston since, including a 102 in the T20 win over Ivanhoe.

His 63 came off 43 balls and included five boundaries and a pair of sixes, while Wigginton’s 70 came from 53 balls with seven boundaries.

Adam Jacklin (2-19) claimed the key wicket of Akshay Ballal for a second-ball duck and, along with Boteju, helped clean up the Endeavour Hill tail as the Eagles lost their last six wickets for 13 runs.

Brighton skipper Peter Cassidy. Picture: Valeriu Campan

It continues a remarkable turnaround for the Bullants too, winless before Christmas and now victorious in six of their last seven outings.

“We’ve taken a lot of confidence since Christmas … before Christmas we were really close to a win but we didn’t quite put it all together,” Stretton said.

“I think it’s been maturity, more experience and a bit of belief and T20s was probably the perfect way to come back after Christmas.

“One of the key turning points was the partnership between (Marcus) Murphy and (Kyle) Walsh with the bat, they put on about 100 (against Strathmore) in the first game back and we got the win and that gave us a bit of momentum.”

Meanwhile, Brighton is an equally strong form after dismantling Spotswood on Tuesday night.

After being sent in, the Tonners posted 3-198 before dismissing the visitors for just 112.

Skipper Peter Cassidy is confident the freedom in which his team is playing with is to account for the post-Christmas form.

That and the seamless transition some of his players are making when called upon.

“It’s been good, I think the boys have taken it in the last few weeks,” he said.

“We lost a few before Christmas that we shouldn’t have but the morale is really good around the group and the boys are starting to make some runs.

“I think the boys are playing with freedom, Charlie Dowling went to the top of the order, he’s pretty exciting to watch.

“Everyone has come in and played their role, Brenton Murphy came in last night after Rick (Damiano) pulled out sick, he made 70 odd off 40 balls and he wasn’t even meant to play.”

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While Cassidy is buoyant by the prospect of his side adding a piece of silverware to the Brighton Beach Oval trophy cabinet, he is more hopeful his unit is building towards a different title.

“It’s sort of come along fast, we hadn’t really thought about it,” he said.

“I think it (the T20 competition) was more taking it to try and get momentum for our actual season, like getting a few wins on the board and really starting to get some form.

“Any trophy is a bonus, but it’s been more about trusting the process to make finals and then win a premiership.””