THE last round of the Portland and District Cricket Association’s A grade home and away season arrives tomorrow with two matches offering little more than momentum before the business end of the summer.

The final four has been locked in for a handful of weeks already and now, the formation won’t change either – with Gorae-Portland locking up the minor premiership with 45 points ahead of Colts in second (37.5 points).

Portland Tigers finished third after a late surge, collecting 30 points, and Tyrendarra rounds out the four with 17.5 points.

This leaves South Portland as the odd side out once again, with Go-Ports and Tyrendarra to meet in one semi-final and Tigers and Colts in the other.

Before then however there’s one last round to complete and South Portland’s final contest of the season will take place on the turf wicket at Cavalier Park, hosting Go-Ports.

South Portland were unable to crack the top four with a young side in 2021-22 and captain Lachie Warburton said despite the team feeling disappointed at missing finals, there was plenty of positives to focus on.

“It hasn’t been the dream summer that any of us wanted but I think there’s still be plenty of reasons to be happy with how we’ve gone,” he said.

“We lost three in a row to start the summer and if we could’ve changed a few of those closer results, it would be a different story, but that’s the way it goes and I think there’s still plenty to be proud of moving forward.

“Rory Barry has had a sensational finish to the season and in terms of young players at the A grade level, he’s shown more than just about anyone I think.

“He’s working hard on adding more scoring options with his batting and I think we’re likely to give him another crack at the top of the order this weekend after how well he batted against Tyrendarra.

“Everyone has had little moments here and there this season and hopefully next time around when everyone’s a bit older and a bit stronger, we turn a few of those losses into wins and get ourselves into the semi-finals.”

In the second A grade match, Colts will host Tyrendarra on the turf wicket at Henty Park.

B Grade

In the PDCA’s B grade competition, it’s all on the line for Tyrendarra and Drumborg-Heywood tomorrow when the two teams meet on the hard wicket in Tyrendarra.

Heading into the final round, Drumborg-Heywood sits in fourth spot with six wins and eight losses and 30 premiership points, leading fifth placed Tyrendarra with five wins and 25 points.

The teams have a matching run rate across the season to date too, meaning the winner of tomorrow’s encounter is guaranteed a spot in finals.

Drumborg-Heywood has surged into finals contention off the back of two absurd performances with the bat from Taine Morris.

Morris belted 142 runs in round 12 against South Portland from just 77 deliveries, hitting 13 fours and nine sixes at Cavalier Park.

He followed that up with another century two weeks later against Portland Tigers, making 117 runs from just 66 deliveries at Flinders Park.

That century featured 13 fours and seven sixes.

The winner of the contest between Tyrendarra and Drumborg-Heywood will play South Portland in one semi-final, while Portland Colts and Go-Ports have secured the other semi-final match-up.

Juniors

The PDCA’s under-16 grand final is booked in for Sunday, with minor premiers Portland Tigers squaring off against South Portland on the hard wicket at Henty Park.

Portland Tigers have been the team to beat across the home and away season, picking up five wins from six matches after missing finals altogether at the end of the 2020-21 season.

South Portland meanwhile reaches the grand final after an anti-climactic finish to the semi-final against Colts, which was expected to be played across Monday and Tuesday but was abandoned due to rain.

Monday’s play was completed without issue, with South Portland batting first at Cavalier Park and posting a first innings total of 6-160.

Eamon Drew was the leading run scorer, reaching 51 before caught and bowled by Macauly Baker.

A late 25-run haul from Sooria Sonti kept South in the hunt for a win however, however rain on Tuesday night brought an early end to proceedings.

Due to the washout South Portland, who finished second on the ladder, progress to face Tigers in the grand final, which begins on Sunday at 11am.