WALKING TO THE FINAL: Orange City batsman Stuart Naden will be back in action this weekend for the Orange District Cricket Association first grade grand final. Photo: JUDE KEOGH 0317wadecrick6
ORANGE City captain Dave Boundy saw his team’s efforts rewarded yesterday when they earned a place in the Orange District Cricket Association first grade grand final.
City scored an eight-wicket outright win over Cavaliers in their two-day preliminary final at Wade Park
This puts City into the grand final against minor premiers CYMS.
For Boundy yesterday, just making the grand final was something special.
“That was a big win. That’s a bit of a monkey off our back,” Boundy said.
“This is the result of a lot of seasons of work. It’s just been a case of getting there. There’s been a lot of determination and effort from the boys.”
It wasn’t an easy win by any means for Orange City.
Cavaliers batted first and were all out for a disappointing 129 with Stu Middleton (62) the only one to really get going.
Jono Warren (4-24) troubled the Cavaliers batsmen and Stuart Naden (2-9) and Andrew Rutledge (2-21) also took multiple wickets.
Orange City didn’t have a good start to their first innings when they were 3-12.
Shaun Grenfell (78) came to City’s rescue to put on a 44-run partnership with Ben Nexhip (25) and another 58 with Lincoln Duncan (31) to push his side to 114 for the fifth wicket.
City were 7-153 at stumps on Saturday.
They resumed play yesterday morning and were all out for 220 with Liam Gough (4-47), Brad Wright (2-22) and Charles Foran (2-32) taking wickets.
Cavs had a better go in the second innings with Middleton making a quick-fire 50, including 10 fours.
A few quick wickets fell to have Cavs at 5-87 before Josh Doherty (36) and Matt Corben (29) chipped in to help Cavs to 180.
Boundy (4-26), Andrew Rutledge (3-48) and James Conn (2-31) featured in the wickets.
This meant City needed 90 wins off their second innings to claim the outright win.
Openers Matt Findlay (39 not out) and Adam Cowden (20) chipped away slowly at the total before Cowden was caught by Chris Martin off Gough.
James Conn (3) went cheaply but Grenfell (26no) and Findlay pushed City to the win.
Cavaliers captain Richie Venner said his side’s first innings made things hard for them but he was happy with the way his players continued to fight.
“The first innings didn’t set it up for us. We were behind the eight ball after the first hour,” Venner said.
“To their credit, the guys showed the Cavs’ ticker and stuck with it. Other teams would have packed up three or four hours ago.”
Venner thought his team played well in patches whereas City “won the big moments”.
This is one of the reasons why Venner believes City will come out on top against CYMS in this weekend’s grand final.
“They’ve played the last two weeks and their battle-hardened. City have proven themselves,” Venner said.
The ODCA first grade grand final will be played at Wade Park next weekend.
