THE pain of three failed campaigns inspired a match-winning assault by opening batsman Josh Stapleton yesterday as the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association triumphed in the division two Festival of Cricket grand final.
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Stapleton smacked a rapid-fire 81 from about 40 balls as the WDCA cruised to its victory target of 151 with three overs to spare against arch-rival South West Cricket at Hamilton’s Clem Young Oval.
Stapleton’s whirlwind innings included five sixes and seven boundaries.
Such was the Merrivale batsman’s assault, when he was out on the 51st ball of the innings, the score was 97, meaning he had made 84 per cent of the score.
The 22-year-old, who earlier this season smashed 180 in a division one match against Nirranda, said he had no plans to have such an impact in a short period.
“After the first ball, I just thought I may as well just go from the start.
“I whacked it over mid-off and I copped a bit of stick from the boys (for playing a shot like that first up) so I just kept going and they shut up,” he said.
Stapleton said he had made three previous trips to Hamilton for the Twenty20 Festival of Cricket and each time the WDCA had fallen to SWC.
He was captain of the WDCA under-21 side which was undefeated entering last year’s grand final when it was toppled by SWC.
“That was the driving point, I said to the boys ‘I’ve been up here three times and I’ve lost to these boys each time and I don’t want it to happen again’,” he said.
“It’s pretty satisfying to get a win.”
With the under-21 format changed to become an open second division this year, both WDCA and SWC opted to go with under-21 sides plus two older players.
WDCA skipper Geoff Williams, who opened with Stapleton, said he had made three runs from seven balls in their 44-run stand.
“They were all going straight down the ground or through mid-wicket and they were all proper cricket shots,” Williams said.
“Anyone who wasn’t here really missed out.”
Williams was delighted his side, which had been undefeated in three games on Saturday, achieved its mission. But it wasn’t without stress.
He said SWC seemed to be heading for a total of about 180 mid-way through its innings until his bowlers hit back late.
“The last five overs went for just 20 runs. The boys did a brilliant job.”
Williams, who coached the WDCA under-21 side in those defeats Stapleton had been part of, said the victory was sweet for Tom Bowman, James Dalton and Matt Bignell, who were on the wrong side of the result last year.
Vice-captain Mark Nathan (23 not out) and Paul Walker (31 not out) saw the WDCA home.
SWC captain Matt Boyle was disappointed with the result but overall he was pleased with his young side’s performances.
“That Stapleton, no matter where we put fielders, he just killed us,” Boyle said.
“We were happy with 150.
“We said to ourselves 130-140 was a pretty good score. We weren’t over confident but confident we could defend it.”
He said SWC’s side had just two players over 19.
“Everyone stepped up and did their part.”
grbest@fairfaxmedia.com.au
