DEFENDING Hamilton and District Cricket Association A grade Twenty20 Premier, Pigeon Ponds, fell at the penultimate hurdle when College raced clear to grab a place in the grand final by defeating Ponds in the early match of Saturday’s double header.

Both teams had been the dominant force in the shortest format this season and as they took to the field in round six, Ponds held a two-point advantage on the ladder.

Ponds skipper, Peter Staude, won the toss and, as has been his choice throughout the competition, sent College in to bat.

The decision bore fruit from the very first ball of the match, as Murray Staude bowled Charles Murrie for a duck.

Heath Schmidt and Jock Barrie came together and took the tally to 12 when Schmidt failed to get over the top of a delivery from Simon Close and he was gone for only 10.

College now had its two youngest members of the team at the wicket, as Henry Bensch joined Barrie and the pair started to get the innings going with some crisp stroke play.

It was Barrie who was the more dominant of the pair, carrying the score to 40 before he skied a George Austin delivery into the safe hands of Peter Staude to fall for 23.

Bensch (seven) followed only three runs later, as Close struck for his second wicket when he trapped the youngster LBW to leave College at 4-43 after eight overs.

This brought new Eagle, Adrian Burn, to the wicket for his debut innings for his new club.

Burn was playing his first match of the season after being cleared from Byaduk earlier in the week and he showed no rustiness with the willow, as he and Lachie Brown advanced the tally to 89 before Burn (18) was bowled by Anthony Close.

With 5.4 overs to bat, the Brown brothers, Lachie and Angus, knew that they needed as many runs as possible against the strong Ponds outfit.

It was Lachie who took the long handle to the bowlers, notching a half century from only 34 balls, as he placed the ball beyond the fence on four occasions, while Angus gave great support in reaching 21 before being dismissed in the final over of the innings.

The Eagles had posted 6-137 after 20 overs which looked to be well below par on the Kennedy Oval hard wicket, especially with the form that Peter Staude and Simon Close had produced over the preceding month.

The Pigeons would suffer the same fate that befell College, as their skipper followed the pattern that Charles Murrie set in the first innings by being dismissed from the first ball of the innings after he was caught at the wicket by Angus Brown to hand Jason Schmidt the much-needed initial breakthrough.

It was a sedate start from Pigeon Ponds, as it scored at a run-a-ball pace with Simon hitting two crisp boundaries, but Bensch gained the prize wicket of Close (10) after Murrie swung the youngster into the attack after only one over from Schmidt.

With the two opening batsmen back in the pavilion, College soon had a third and fourth wicket, as Michael Close (one) and Murray Staude (10) made the lonely walk back to the pavilion as Bensch bowled Close and had Staude caught by Lachie Watt to leave the innings in tatters at 4-35.

Tom Conheady could only watch from the other end, as the batsmen came and went, but he combined with Anthony Close (17) to carry the team to 80 before Adrian Burn grabbed the vital wicket of Close in the 11th over.

Ponds still had plenty of overs to score the 58 needed to win and claim a place in the final, but the College bowlers merely bowled a tighter line and length to deny the batsmen the chance to free their arms and swing at the bowling.

Conheady (43-not-out) would post his highest A grade score, but it wasn’t enough, as the final tally stood at 7-114 at stumps to hand College second spot on the ladder with only one round match remaining.

Bensch finished with 3-19 to be the pick of the bowlers.

Pigeon Ponds dropped from ladder leader to third after the loss and would need results to go its way in the late game if it was going to defend the title.

The two other matches in the round were lopsided affairs, as Macarthur (7-114) was no match for St Andrew’s (0-115), as Brendan Huf (64-not-out) and Damien Logan (43-not-out) chased down the target with more than four overs to spare.

Special mention to Laura Addinsall, who became only the second woman to play in the A grade competition (after Claire Widdicombe).

She has been a start for the Demons in the Women’s comp for a few years and she more than held her own with the men.

Casterton (40) was routed by Grampians (1-41) with Stefan Burnell grabbing the stunning figures of 4-3 from his four overs, as the Casterton batsmen failed to impose themselves on the match.

Only Kaden Humphries (24-not-out) could post a score of more than four with sundries being second top score with seven.

Round seven

WITH St Andrew’s having booked its spot in the final after being handed the bye in the final round, it came down to results in the last round as to which team would face the Drews in next month’s final.

College and Pigeon Ponds were the two teams battling it out for that final spot and all College had to do was win, while Pigeon Ponds had to win but also hope that College would stumble at the final hurdle.

Both teams had hard fought matches and the only quick result came from the Grampians-Macarthur match, where the Pumas made short work of the Demons batting line-up, dismissing them for only 69.

Burnell continued his great form with the ball, finishing with another three wickets to give him seven for the day, while Josh Gordon (39) batted well in the chase.

Pigeon Ponds would need to defeat Hamilton if it was any chance of reaching the final and the batsmen made up for their poor showing in the earlier match, as Simon Close (52) posted his third half century of the competition, as he and brother Michael (33) added 90 for the first wicket.

Both were gone with only 98 on the board, but from then on it became the Anthony Close show, as the tall all-rounder brought up his 50 from only the 25th ball he faced.

He and Murray Staude took 24 from the final over of the innings to post the final score at 2-189 after 20 overs.

It appeared to be a good score, but the match was being held on Kennedy Oval hard wicket which is known to be a venue where huge tallies are often made.

Carl Rhook and Anthony Read would begin the chase with Rhook playing his first innings of the season.

It did not last long, as Murray Staude had him caught at the wicket for a duck with only the fifth ball of the innings.

Tobi Cook joined Read and the pair played some delightful strokes to all parts of the ground, as the runs began to flow.

Read was the dominant partner, racing to 32 from only 23 balls but with the tally on 45, he skied a ball from Anthony Close only to see Will Burbury hold onto the catch.

Tobi Cook (29), Mick Ross (24), Brenton Callaby (16), Hamish Cook (18) and Robbie Cook 21) fell quickly, as the Blues edged closer to their target, but in the end the Hamilton batsmen were all out for 153 to hand Ponds the first part of the equation for a final place.

It all came down to the final match in the round, as College and Casterton met at KFC Oval.

On paper it looked like an easy victory for College such had been the form of the Casterton batsmen, but they proved to be no easybeats, as they pushed the Eagles all the way.

Rick Killey won the toss and sent College to the crease first, as Heath Schmidt (20) and Toby Barrie (18) took strike for the Eagles.

The pair gave the side a bright start, but both were back in the pavilion with 50 on the board.

Bensch decided that the run rate needed to increase as he posted 35 from only 13 balls that saw the young all-rounder post his highest A grade score to date.

It will not be long before he passes this mark too.

Murrie (15) and Burn (33) also got amongst the runs and with the score at 3-122 it appeared that College were going to go big, but the Casterton bowlers struck back to claim 6-24 to leave College at 9-156 at the close of innings.

It was a score on paper that was gettable, but matches are not played on paper and the College bowlers were in no mood to simply hand over their hard-won place in the final.

Killey and Ben Holmes opened the batting and they posted a stand of 53 for the first wicket, but with the fall of Killey (18) and Holmes (33), the batting fell away as Casterton lost 7-37 to finish its innings on 7-105.

So after seven preliminary rounds, College finished on top of the ladder and St Andrew’s was only two points behind.

The loss in round six gave Pigeon Ponds not much hope of defending the title, but played some great cricket to finish third.

The T20 final will be played on December 9 at Haymes Paint Oval.