TYRENDARRA claimed the Portland and District Cricket Association’s Twenty20 grand final by the narrowest of margins on Friday evening, defeating Portland Tigers by just a solitary run at Henty Park.

The Darras won the toss and elected to bat first, and that decision paid immediate dividends as their openers Darren Killmister (25 off 17) and Lachie Kirk (34) helped get them to 2-65 after 10 overs.

The back half of the innings saw the Tigers counter-punch, as they began to take wickets consistently which in turn helped slow their opposition’s run rate.

Will Hardie finished with figures of 2-17 from his four overs, while Joel Hollis (1-14 off four), Nik Oakley (1-13 off three) and Llewellyn Oakley (1-4 off one) were the other key bowlers.

Ultimately the Darras managed to put 116 runs on the board, a decent target but one the Tigers were confident they could chase down.

And, despite the early loss of opener Ian Faure, they would have been even more confident after Hardie (45 off 52) and Llewellyn Oakley (37 off 39) put on 69 runs for the second wicket to see them at 1-96 heading into the 18th over.

However, things can change quickly in T20 cricket, and that’s exactly what happened when Sam Wilson had Hardie caught after skying one towards the backward point region.

When Oakley was run out in the same over, all of a sudden, the Tigers had two fresh batsmen at the crease, still needing a further 13 runs from 12 deliveries.

Paul Procter made a valiant effort to win his side the match, pumping a big six off just the second ball he faced, but when Wilson had him caught as well, the Darras were once again on top.

It came down to the final ball, with the Tigers needing three runs to win and two to force a super over, with Nik Oakley facing Wilson.

Oakley was able to clear the infield with an off drive, however hit the ball directly to Hamish Aitken at long-off, and while both batsmen made a valiant effort to get home, the Darras fieldsmen held their nerve under immense pressure, as keeper Jake Wilson took the bails off with Oakley still a metre or so short of his ground.

Sam Wilson finished with his side’s best figures off 2-24 from his four overs, while Killmister (1-22 from four) and Kirk (0-18 from four) were the other key bowlers for Tyrendarra.

Despite his side not getting over the line, Hardie was named as player of the match for his 45 runs and 2-17.

Tyrendarra skipper Cam Mather said was delighted with the win.

“We’re happy to have scraped the win, to be honest I thought we were 15 or 20 runs behind what we needed to be, turns out we were one run ahead,” Mather said.

“We’d been hoping to make a bigger score, but I told the boys between innings that at the end of the day we had runs on the board and they needed to chase them, and credit to them they got the job done.

“Tigers are a quality side; it took our best to get over the line.”

The win means his side now has a chance to play off against Port Fairy of the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association for a spot in the Sungold T20 Cup, with Mather saying it should be a great opportunity for his group.

“We’ve had Sam (Wilson) and Mark (Pitt) head over there across the past couple of seasons to play for Port Fairy, so it’ll be something they’re accustomed to… but for the rest of the group it’ll be a new opportunity,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get a win against them and go on to the tournament itself.”