GCA4 grand final: Waurn Ponds-Deakin v Guild-St Mary’s
It was a knock for the ages and Guild-St Mary’s was not left bitter after Philip Visser snatched the GCA4 title away.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Guild-St Mary’s coach Anand Choudhary says that the stunning performance of Waurn Ponds-Deakin batter Philip Visser stripped away any chance of a Saints premiership.
The South African batter capped off his magnificent season with a man of the match performance in the decider.
Choudhary said the gun batter was the difference as Waurn Ponds-Deakin chased the target of 206 down in the 48th over with two wickets in hand to claim the GCA4 title.
“Philip Visser, what a great batsman,” he said after the game.
“He took the game away from us, he was just too good.
“This is what you want in a grand final, you want two of the best teams with great players playing and whoever wins deserves to win.
“I think (Waurn Ponds-Deakin) were the best team all year and the better team on the day so they deserved to win.”
After a stunning performance in the preliminary final where the Saints posted 284 against Little River at Grinter Reserve, Guild-St Mary’s could not build a significant partnership throughout the innings.
Four players, including Grant Stripling (37), TJ Singh (39), Patel (26) and Randhawa (39), had more than 20 runs for the Saints, but only twice were there partnerships of 50 runs or more in the innings.
Choudhary said it was a great effort from his side to come from third to lose in a tight grand final against an almost-undefeated Saints side, who only lost to Little River in the 2022-23 season.
“I’m really proud of my teammates, we’ve had a great year,” he said.
“We had a good finals series and a good season, so we’re really proud of each other and how we have played this year.”
‘Knock for the ages’ guides Eagles to flag
Waurn Ponds-Deakin captain Jono Thompson says boom recruit Philip Visser had a “knock for the ages” in the GCA4 grand final against Guild-ST Mary’s.
Visser crunched 110 runs off 97 deliveries, which included 10 boundaries, in the Eagles’ successful chase of the Saints’ 205 in the 48th over with just 10 balls left.
Thompson said Visser was “flawless” in the premiership-winning knock.
“That was a knock for the ages,” he said.
“The pressure was immense, they were on him from ball one and they were into him straight away.
“I was out there when he came out, we weren’t in trouble but it wasn’t an easy time to come out to bat (at 2-33), so for him to bat almost the entire innings and be chanceless the whole way through was amazing.
“He was absolutely flawless, I was pretty lucky to be up the other end of it and not have to worry too much because the runs just came so easily for him.
“He’s such a class player, but he’s also such a class person, I’ve got so much respect for him.”
Visser piled on 855 runs across the season at an average of 95, with his 110 in the grand final his fifth century for the season.
The star bat said after being awarded the man of the match that he was ecstatic to join the Eagles for the season.
“I love the boys here, they’re all like family,” he said.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to do this season, we deserve this.”
Dhanuja Nandana was the pick of the bowlers for the Eagles with 2-28 off 10 overs, but Lachlan Bartlett (2-50 off 10), Shamal Kaiprath (2-41 off 10) and Mitchell Lester (2-52 off 10) all took multiple wickets as well.
Thompson said he was confident the chase was possible on a strong batting wicket at Grinter Reserve.
“I thought they were 20 or 30 short of where they needed to be,” he said.
“The deck that was out there was a really good batting deck so when they won the toss we knew we would have to bowl well and try to restrict them from their big hitting.
“Our whole bowling group did so well to restrict them, our fielding was pretty good but to be honest they didn’t really give us many chances.
“We took our catches when they came and we were pretty clean, so we were happy to chase about 200.”
Grand final ‘advantage’ for Saints after dominant batting
GUILD-St Mary’s coach Anand Choudhary is backing his batters to continue firing in the GCA4 grand final against Waurn Ponds-Deakin on Saturday.
The Saints have chased down 208 in less than 26 overs against Lethbridge in the elimination final before setting Little River 285 for victory off the back of hard hitting.
Choudhary, who made 106 in the first final, said their style of batting would remain.
“Our confidence is high, our batting was not up to the mark before but now I think all the boxes are ticked and we can do well,” he said.
“I think it a little bit of an advantage to play at the same ground (Grinter Reserve), but it’s not a huge advantage because it depends on what the ground is like and how teams play on the day.
“It was a really good batting ground last time but it might not be that this week, so we’ll have to see.
“If we play good cricket it doesn’t matter, good cricket wins games.”
The Saints will come up against Eagles star Philip Visser, who has piled on more than 700 runs this season for Waurn Ponds-Deakin.
Choudhary said he was a classy batter that was difficult to get out.
“He’s really good, no doubt about it,” he said.
“He’s been really important to their team, he’s been the backbone of their side this season, but they’re all doing their part with how they’re playing.
“Our bowling has been really good all year so we know where we want to bowl to them and how we want to get our wickets.
“Hopefully our plans work and we can get some wickets easily.”
More than a one-man show: Thompson
WAURN Ponds-Deakin skipper Jono Thompson says it is not a one-man show for the Eagles as they prepare to play off in the GCA4 grand final.
The Eagles’ batting has been considerably strengthened by the inclusion of South African import Philip Visser this season, who has piled on 745 runs as an average of 93.13 in 13 innings.
But Thompson said the Eagles had to be ready to bat 50 overs if their star first drop failed to fire in the grand final against Guild-St Mary’s.
“He’s been phenomenal, it’s been really great to have him this year,” he said.
“He’s really working hard with our younger boys as well, giving them a few tips and helping them out at training.
“But at the end of the day he’s just another bat in our side, it’s just handy that he’s averaging what he is, but we saw when we played Little River in the first final that he didn’t get too many and we were still able to get the job done.
“We’ve seen throughout the year it’s been a really good spread of players throughout the batting line-up.”
The Eagles will face Guild-St Mary’s, which is coming off a mammoth score of 285 against Little River in the preliminary final.
Mandeep Aulakh smashed 93 off 69 balls, while Vijay Ramesh scored 54 and Gurbir Randhawa had 63 in the lower order.
Thompson said his bowling attack would have its hands full keeping the Saints stars under control.
“It’s great as a captain to have (Dhanuja) Nandana and (Lachlan) Bartlett, you can’t ask for much more,” he said.
“If they want to have a swing, that’s okay, if they hit a four that’s okay, but it’s about us doing our role.”
More Coverage
Originally published as GCA4 grand final: Waurn Ponds-Deakin v Guild-St Mary’s
Local young gun to make Cats debut as veteran hits milestone
As one veteran celebrates her 75-game milestone, the career of a young Geelong product will begin this weekend.
Cats flag duo’s future decided as new recruit looms
Rhys Stanley and Mitch Duncan both played in Geelong’s preliminary final, but will they earn new deals? Plus, another new face will join the club in the next fortnight.