First Final – U11 North Nowra Cambewarra Blues VS Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemans.

This weekend saw the most important cricket match of the season so far: The first final match, which was played at Drexel Park, North Nowra. We were in our home territory, the rain appeared to have abated and we were jumping out of our skin to get the game underway.

We won the toss. Hallelujah! Captain Jack Sweet made the critically correct decision to give the visiting team the opportunity to bat first.

Our formidable bowling attack swung into action. The thought of facing Troy Sweet, Toby Huard and Jack Sweet as the first bowlers would have scared the wits out of their opening batters and as expected, these bowlers got us into a good position early on. Tully Dennis followed taking a wicket, as did Jack Walsh. Alex Jelavic was economical, while Micah Edwards skittled the batters stumps down twice. What a star performance! Cameron Murray and Harry Evans took wickets. Liam Gomez was good in the field saving quite a few runs and Jacob Zerafa bowled straight and accurate conceding few runs. Troy Sweet was the main destroyer with 3/7 with Micah Edwards’ scintillating performance with 2/2 which includied a maiden over. We’d kept the Ex-Serviceman’s score to 15/52. Our wicket keepers, Jacob Zerafa and Jack Sweet were complete professionals at their craft, both doing a sensational job. It was a near perfect effort in the field by our wonderful team.

The batting began after a short break. Our opening pair, Harry Evans and Cameron Murray batted their hearts out with both playing perhaps their best innings all year. A partnership of 0/20 set the team on course for an easy win. The perfect opening partnership, very proud of you guys! Tully Dennis and Jacob Zerafa put on a 10 run partnership, and Micah Edwards and Liam Gomez put on a 12 run partnership. We passed their total in the 13th over, with either Alexander Jelavic or Jack Walsh scoring the winning runs, both scoring 11 runs each. Jack Walsh remained at the crease for an extra 4 overs, and moved up a couple of gears scoring another 20, while his partner Jack Sweet put on a reliable 16 runs, followed by Troy Sweet and master blasting Toby Huard. These final two batters put on a partnership of 43 runs, which included Toby cracking 3 boundaries. The team had managed to score 7/143. On a field with relatively long grass, and a soft, spongy outfield not conducive to scoring runs, this was a superb effort!

So, it’s off to the Grand Final we go! Yeeeeahaaaa, Grandma! It’s hard to keep a lid on the excitement. We are un-backable favorites, so there is no point in putting $5 on us at the TAB, as you’ll get $5 back for a win. We don’t need any betting scandals either. We’re squeaky clean and looking forward to dealing with our opponents appropriately next week!