This is for Jez.
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Riding a wave of emotion following the passing of teammate Jeremy Fittler during the week, the Lithgow Lightning has qualified for this summer’s Royal Hotel Cup grand final after knocking out defending champions Cavaliers on Friday night.
The competition’s premier chasing unit, Lithgow was remarkably allowed to do just that by Cavaliers skipper Matt Corben on Friday night after he won the toss and batted – a telling moment in the semi-final clash at Wade Park.
Lithgow bowled Cavaliers out for 113, then raced to the total just three wickets down, Josh Howarth’s 34 off 24 balls late in the innings ensuring the visitors passed the maroons’ total with 27 balls remaining.
And they did it all without Fittler, a fixture in both Lithgow cricket sides and rugby league teams at the foot of the mountains for over a decade.
“Very much so,” Lightning captain Ben Sheehan replied when asked if the loss of their teammate was weighing heavily leading into the clash.
“We struggled big time. A lot of us work with Jeremy as well, and we didn’t go to work on Thursday night after hearing the news.
“He was a big part of this team. He would have played on Friday night.
“It’s been really tough for us.”
We struggled big time. A lot of us work with Jeremy as well ... he was a big part of this team. He would have played on Friday night.
- Lithgow skipper Ben Sheehan
Sheehan said his side can sweep to the title, such is his side’s momentum in the Twenty20 format – especially when chasing.
Lithgow hasn’t batted first in two years of Royal Hotel Cup cricket.
“We didn’t know the stats, but having seen them in the paper (during the week) we pretty much prepared for the game as if we were definitely going to bat first,” Sheehan laughed.
“We would have been happy to and I said to the boys, this will be our chance to make a bit of a statement.
“We lost the toss and I thought that was it. But we were sent in to bowl. I was a bit stunned. It was business as usual for us from there.”
Sheehan isn’t wrong there either.
Lithgow’s bowlers led the charge in Friday night’s semi-final victory, Mick Hutchinson’s 2-8 off four overs a remarkable spell.
Every Lithgow bowler took a wicket in the destruction of the Cavs batting line-up, one that’s top score was just 18, off the blade of Corben.
In reply, Sheehan (32 off 21) and Ryan Gurney (17 off 20) got the ball rolling with a 50-run opening stand, in six overs, before Howarth and Joel Gurney (19 off 22) steered their side home for the seven wicket win.