By Colin MacGillivray and Tricia Mifsud
A SPOT in the Seymour District Cricket Association A Grade grand final is on the line when Broadford and Kilmore meet in a semi-final showdown at Harley Hammond Reserve on Saturday.
Broadford has been one of the competition frontrunners all year, but Kilmore enters as the form side after winning five matches in a row before a league-wide washout cancelled all games at the weekend.
Broadford won the first two encounters between the sides – by six wickets in round four and 46 runs in round nine – but was defeated by five wickets when the sides met on February 26.
Kilmore skipper Josh Buttler said his side was confident but admitted the result would count for little on Saturday.
“We’re well placed and we’re coming good at the right time,” he said.
“I think it gives us a bit of confidence having beat them a couple of weeks ago. Admittedly they had a couple out from their best 11, but we had a couple out as well.”
Broadford captain Taylor Shell said his side was also buoyant heading into the finals.
“We’re feeling pretty confident with where we are and how we’re tracking. Regardless of who you come up against though, cricket is a funny game and pretty much anybody can win from any position in the top four,” he said.
“For us, it’s about doing the fundamentals right. With the bat you have to take your opportunities and really dig in and score well, and make sure that we share the load around through the order so everybody chips in and makes everything a bit easier.
“It’s the same with the ball. You’ve just got to get the basics right and bowl line and length and keep to the plan that you want to bowl to.
“If they get on top of us we don’t want to get too frazzled, we’ll stick to our plan and hopefully everything will come into place.”
Both sides expect to have full teams to pick from heading into the game.
Buttler said last year’s grand final loss to Yea Tigers would be a motivating factor for the Blues.
“Everyone is pretty keen to get back there and go one better this time,” he said.
“If we could get as much support up at Broadford this week as we can that would be fantastic.”
The winner of the match will face the victor of Saturday’s other semi-final between Eastern Hill and Yea Tigers in the grand final on March 19.
Wallan in finals
Meanwhile, in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association, Wallan managed 34 overs of batting before its game against Sunbury Kangaroos was also watched out, resulting in a draw.
Despite the match being cut short, Wallan’s win last week against Rupertswood secured a finals spot in the side’s inaugural season in the McIntyre Cup division, with the draw keeping it in fifth position.
The Kangaroos won the toss and elected for the Magpies to bat first – something the side had struggled with all season.
Ironically, Wallan looked to be on track to knock one of its biggest totals of the season, accumulating 2/134 off the 33.3 overs of play.
Opening batsmen Bailey Fowler and Ryan Bonner hit nine and 15 respectively before Bryan Vance and Kieran Atkin made their way to the crease.
The duo presented an exceptional partnership, hitting 56 not out and 41 not out respectively before the game was called off.
This weekend, Wallan will travel and play fourth-placed Romsey at Bendigo Bank Oval in a must-win clash to advance into next week’s semi-finals.
Winners of the three qualifying matches including Sunbury United and Bacchus Marsh in the first versus second match; and Gisborne play Diggers Rest Bulla in third versus sixth will progress to the semi-finals; while the loser of the Sunbury United and Bacchus Marsh match will also gat a double chance.
