ON THE FRONT FOOT: Ray Milner in action for Gladstone in the final of the ODCA lower grade Twenty20 competition. Gladstone defeated CYMS by 37 runs at Wade Park. Photo: JUDE KEOGH 0106twentycrick7
GLADSTONE has taken out the Orange District Cricket Association’s lower grade Twenty20 competition, defeating CYMS by 37 runs in the final played at Wade Park on Sunday afternoon.
Gladstone won the toss and elected to bat on a flat Wade Park deck and the move proved a crucial one.
Openers Mick Sullivan (58) and Duncan Young (nine) put on 56 for the first wicket before Michael Campbell (1-36) removed Young in the eighth over.
Handy contributions from Ray Milner (27) and Benny Easter (28) helped tick the Gladstone’s total along, finishing the 20 overs with the more than competitive total of 7-159.
Sadly for CYMS, they saved their worst for last.
Undefeated throughout the pool games and then coming off the back of a dominant 47-run thumping of Orange City Warriors in the semi-final, CYMS just didn’t click into gear in the decider and were eventually bowled out for 122.
Nick Moran starred with the bat for CYMS smacking an unbeaten 38.
With the ball Richard Manning (2-11), Rod Moore (2-17) and Scott Barrett (2-11) picked up two wickets each in the win.
The triumph capped off a massive weekend for Gladstone, which went about dismantling every attack the side faced on its way to 725 runs across the four games contested over the two days of competition at an average of 181 an innings.
Gladstone beat Orange City seconds by 19 runs in the semi-final at Riawena Oval after cleaning up to finish on top of Pool A courtesy of wins over Metro Force (78 runs) and Waratahs (112 runs).
CYMS had a similarly dominant run to the final.
The best side throughout the early stages of the ODCA second grade premiership, CYMS defeated Centrals by seven wickets in its first clash before beating Metro Wanderers by 34 runs in its final Pool B clash.
In the semi-final, CYMS won comfortably against Orange City Warriors to book a date with Gladstone in the decider.
Other highlights for the weekend included an unbeaten knock of 82 from Centrals all-rounder Steve O’Donnell.
The powerful right-hander single handedly guided Centrals to victory chasing Orange City seconds’ total of 7-137 with just 13 balls to spare.
With the ball, Metro Force’s Dave Langstone picked up 4-16 off four overs in his side’s four-wicket win over Orange City Warriors and Orange City bowler Mark Toynton picked up the economical figures of 3-7 off four overs against Metro Wanderers.
Normal ODCA lower grade cricket resumes next weekend with the first day of a scheduled two-day fixture.