Point Cook has strengthened its home semi-final bid with a thrilling outright win over the ambitious Newport-Digman Bulls in Victorian Turf Cricket Association west B1 at Bryan Martyn Oval on Saturday.
The Bulls were eager to close the gap on the top four, so instead of letting the game peter out to a predictable conclusion, they spiced it up with a declaration on the second day – and that opened the door for the Warriors to claim maximum points.
A challenging fourth innings run chase ensued for the Warriors, who had been out of touch with the bat.
But they forgot about their recent woes to arrive at the 144 target in 40 busy overs with three wickets in hand.
“We had to try and win outright to stay in touch with the finals and did the right thing in declaring,” Warriors captain Travis Bean said.
“It sort of opened the door for us to get an outright, but we still had to bat well to make those runs in 40 overs.”
The Warriors’ best win in the longer format for the summer keeps them in a good position two games out from the finals.
They have a sizeable 16-point lead on third-placed Sunshine United, but jostling for the minor premiership with Sunshine Heights, just five points behind the Warriors, will continue.
“We needed to win outright to continue to stay ahead of the rest of the pack because it’s pretty close in our division,” Bean said.
“It’s a big advantage to have a home semi-final.”
Stephen Luedi’s 44 was the key to the Warriors’ successful run chase.
Important contributions came from newly promoted Chris Kavanagh (21), Bean (17), Matthew Kelton and Bryce Munce (both 16).
While the Warrior batsmen found some form, it was fast bowler Troy Semmens who ripped the game apart with nine wickets.
Semmens has taken a competition-best 41 wickets at 6.8.
“He’s having an unbelievable year,” Bean said.
“He’s just hitting his lines He bowled quite a long spell … for three-quarters of his spell we had a 9-1 field. They only scored probably three or four runs on the leg side where there was only one fielder.
“It shows you how good he is bowling and how accurately.”
The Warriors can lock up a home semi-final with a win over Barkly Street United on the road in a two-dayer starting on Saturday.
