Rivals Waratah and Darwin ready to lock heads in the DDCC T20 League final at Gardens Oval

CITY cricket rivals Waratah and Darwin are ready to hit off in what promises to be an enticing T20 League final at Gardens Oval

Anthony Adlam of Darwin and Austin Umpherston of Waratah ahead of the DDCC T20 final. Picture: Olivia Sherlock

CITY cricket rivals Waratah and Darwin are ready to hit off in what promises to be an enticing T20 League final at Gardens Oval.

Darwin (0/80) put in a dominant showing with both bat and ball to offload Tracy Village (9/75) in the semi final.

Kristopher Denby set the scene early with five wickets which gave opening bats Beau Webster (41 runs) and Harry Chamberlain (36 runs) a target to work with.

And it’s more of the same that Anthony Adlam will be hoping for from his side when they take on a difficult Waratah unit.

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Adlam is in just his first season with the Darwin club originally coming up for just a month but then finding a passion for the Top End game.

It’s that sort of passion shared by his teammates that has seen the Darwin unit plug their way into the final.

“We a simple plan against Tracy Village. Attack the stumps and let the ball do its work while building pressure and that got us the win,” Adlam said

“We always have a rivalry against Waratah being the two city teams. They have a pretty strong team like us and we’re looking forward to the challenge on their home deck.

“We just need to stick to our game plan and work to our strengths. We’ve really found our identity with the bat and ball and so if we keep doing that we should hopefully come away with the win.”

Waratah’s Austin Umpherston also pointed his side’s opening batsmen with Dylan Hunter and captain Isaac Conway showing strong batting form.

Hunter hit 82 runs off 56 runs in to see his side to a winning score of 2/164 in their semifinal against Palmerston (9/122) and will be looked to once again in the final against Darwin.

The result came after Waratah lost to Palmerston in the quarter final, a result Umpherston said his side were insistent on avenging.

“We were disappointed about our first game against Palmerston so it was important to comeback as we did and now we’re just looking forward to the final,” Umpherston said.

“Darwin’s a strong team with a lot of good players. It’s going to be a tough contest.

“We just have to execute as we have all year. We’ve been pretty good throughout the season and I think if we execute as well as we can on the night then we can come out on top.”