TYRENDARRA are the Portland and District Cricket Association’s champions for the 2021-22 A grade season after besting Portland Colts in the grand final on Saturday.

Played out in plenty of sunshine and warmth, Colts and Tyrendarra met at the turf wicket at Henty Park for the biggest contest of the year and after winning the toss, Cam Mather sent his men out to bat.

Tyrendarra had far from the smoothest ride to the grand final – sneaking into the finals in fourth after winning just three games during the regular season – and this lack of form looked like it might end their hopes early after the opening ball of the day.

Colts’ co-captain Luke Evans steamed in and ripped the off-stump of Lachie Kirk out of the ground, handing Tyrendarra’s anchor a golden duck after successfully facing hundreds of deliveries across the summer.

This paired brothers Jake and Sam Wilson at the crease and the pair did a solid job of resurrecting the innings.

Jake worked his way to 10 runs from 44 deliveries before being caught unaware by Damien Bell with the final ball of the 12 over.

Sitting at 2-15, Sam took the innings deeper alongside second drop Ben Menzel, who would evolve from here into the contest’s most important figure.

Wilson reached 24 runs from 68 balls before also being removed by Bell and Colts’ spinner Mathew Belden was preparing to feast.

Despite entering the match under an injury cloud following the semi-final Belden was exceptional as captain Cam Mather (1), Will Kirk (0) and Dylan Murray (2) all failed to challenge the scorers as Tyrendarra fell to a perilous 6-54 by the end of the 35th.

Belden’s gripping leg spin produced all three dismissals and he would finish the afternoon with 3-8 from his eight overs.

The problem for Portland Colts was Tyrendarra’s Menzel – still active at one end while wickets tumbled around him, scoring patiently and waiting for a batsman to join him at the other end who would be able to survive the Colts barrage.

That batsman ended up being Darren Killmister, who belted a typical 15 runs from just 20 deliveries, his only boundary being a six off Adam Barbary as the pair added 25 for the next wicket.

While Killmister was eventually undone by Matthew Payne, he provided the stability Menzel needed to continue scoring late, with Tyrendarra’s final score climbing to 110 runs before the end of the last over.

Menzel finished unbeaten on 44 runs from 95 deliveries, hitting just the three boundaries for the afternoon.

Staying true to his reputation as a big game player, Menzel finished with scores of 44 and 45 in the semi-final after struggling with the bat during a regular season in which he scored just 52 runs in nine matches.

Battling past injury Belden was without a doubt the best with the ball for Colts, with Evans (2-15) and Bell (2-22) the other multiple wicket takers.

Speaking after the match, Tyrendarra’s Mather said he was confident that batting first may prove decisive.

“Coming into the game I thought 120 or 130 runs would give us a big chance to win the match with the ball later,” he said.

“We didn’t quite get what we wanted but Benny (Menzel) and Sam (Wilson) both managed to set us up with the bat, and then we headed out hoping to produce some tight bowling and quality fielding.”

Colts top order struggles to fire

With a modest but workable total on the board, Tyrendarra returned to the field after the break with a tough task at hand.

The competition’s most in-form batsman, opener Alister Stannard, headed into the middle with Glenn Hollis and Colts managed to add 20 runs to the board before the first dismissal.

With the required runs already down to double-digits, Hollis edged a ball through to Tyrendarra’s Hamish Aitken who gladly accepted the catch in the tenth over – with that edge coming off the bowling of who else but Ben Menzel.

Stannard and Sam McDonald managed to add another seven runs before disaster struck again.

A crafty piece of fielding from Zac Stuchbery led to Stannard (9) being run out at the non-striker’s end for his first score below 20 since January 8.

That dismissal sent a ripple wave of nerves through the Colts line-up and more wickets weren’t far away as Tyrendarra looked to truly get on top of the contest for the first time.

Sam McDonald (12) was undone by the spin of Will Kirk in the third over of his spell and Luke Evans was found undone by another change of bowler at the other end, with Tyrendarra’s Dylan Murray producing a thick edge that sailed through to Killmister in slips.

Reeling from the loss of their co-captain, a slip in concentration cost the team another wicket two overs later, with Murray sneaking one through the gate of Adam Barbary (3).

With a taste of the tail edging closer and closer for Tyrendarra now, with Colts sitting at 5-46, Will Kirk struck again the next over, sneaking one past Colts’ Payne and letting out a large roar in celebration.

Tyrendarra’s Mather said dismissing the majority of the top order before they could settle into the middle was a huge result.

“(Heading into the grand final) Colts and Go-Ports have always been the teams to beat and getting Luke Evans, (Alister) Stannard and Adam Barbary the way that we did, I think those were the biggest moments,” he said.

“I thought Will Kirk bowled really well, we saw with Beldy (Mathew Belden) in those middle overs that the slower bowlers were causing batsmen a lot of trouble.

“Will just looked really tough to face and he timed things really well too, he got young McDonald (Sam) out with his first ball after the drinks break and that was a huge moment in the game.

“We knew that we needed to really go after that middle order because they’ve all had good seasons and were all capable of winning the game on their own chasing a lower total like 100.

“Dylan Murray really impressed me too, I was only hoping to get four or five overs out of him and for him to keep things cheap.

“He ended up bowling seven and getting two wickets which was big.”

Win not far away

The premiership was now in sight, with five wickets separating Tyrendarra from the prize while 65 runs were still needed for a wounded Colts.

The wicket of Payne introduced the hard-hitting Belden to the crease and the disadvantage of a hamstring injury was soon spun into an advantage by the class performer.

Unable to bolt between the wickets, Belden searched for boundaries in the middle overs against Tyrendarra’s attack and found them.

In the 31st over Belden headed towards the swimming pool, blasting a stray ball from Murray for six directly down the ground.

The next delivery went for two, and when Murray returned Belden continued to hunt for boundaries, failing to reach the rope twice in the 33rd over and running four runs instead before finally reaching the rope on the last ball for an eight-run over just when the total was starting to appear so far away.

Belden sunk his teeth into Kirk next, taking him for two before the young spinner claimed his next victim, trapping Belden leg-before-wicket stepping across into the leg side trying to open up the field.

Belden the pitch after adding 21 runs from just 25 balls, leaving Daniel Chisholm and Karsen Edwards with 40 runs to find with three wickets in hand.

The pair focused first on getting settled but soon started ticking the score over and a quiet but healthy partnership soon formed.

The pair added more runs before the Chisholm was undone in the 40th over by the returning Sam Wilson, trapping him leg-before-wicket for 12.

Shaken up by the wicket, Edwards was soon to go too, removed just three balls later after hitting the ball to Tyrendarra’s Mather at mid-on.

This left just one standing between Tyrendarra and the premiership and after a nervous 12-ball wait the final wicket fell, with a miscommunication between Oscar Barbary and Damien Bell in the 42nd over leaving Bell out of his crease at the non-striker’s end, run out.

Tyrendarra’s Mather said it was a nervous finish to a memorable grand final result.

“Beldy really gave us a few big scares today and thankfully we just had a good team effort all around,” he said.

“He bowled really well in the opening innings and hurt us there and then we knew how dangerous he was going to be with the bat too.

“He wasn’t afraid to take it on and for a little while I was starting to worry that he’d drag them over the line on his own but thankfully we got him when we did.

“Daniel Chisholm too you know, I was worried we might have let the match slip through our fingers when he skied one and we didn’t take the catch, but thankfully we didn’t make the same mistake again later.

“We took our chances all day when they came up and thankfully got a win against a great team.”

Saturday’s contest was a coming out party for young Tyrendarra spinner Will Kirk, snatching 3-16 from his eight and looking at home on the big stage.

Murray collected 2-28 from his seven and Wilson snared 2-14 while struggling with extras.

Outside of Kirk, Menzel was the bowler who added the most pressure to Colts when it mattered most, finishing with 1-6 and four maidens from his eight overs. These figures, paired with his unbeaten 44, were enough for the umpires to vote him Man of the Match in the grand final for the second season in a row, further extending his local legacy as one of the best to ever play in a competition with more than 100 years of history.