Jarrod Cahill darts between wickets on Saturday in his vain attempt to rescue Diggers from defeat.
Cricket
THE CORO Cougars have beaten arch-rivals Diggers to the double chance in the finals with a dramatic one-run win at Exies No.2 on Saturday.
Strike bowlers Paul Plummer and Haydn Pascoe were the stars of the show for Coro, bagging four wickets each as Diggers were knocked over for 129 agonisingly short of the Cougars' first-innings total of 130.
Diggers resumed on 5-55 from day one and after losing Mick Duncan (10) early, defeat looked well and truly on the cards.
But a sturdy partnership between opener Scott Smith (17) and power hitter Jarrod Cahill (31) helped stem the flow of wickets long enough for the reigning champions to get back into the match.
The pair lasted more than 10 overs together but were both removed in quick succession along with tailender Dylan Neal, leaving any lower-order heroics for Diggers at the feet of Jason Hampel and Glen Faganello.
Combining for a 22-run stand the third-biggest of the innings and fourth-biggest of the match Hampel and Faganello very nearly got there, until the latter was trapped in front by Plummer (4-51) with the last ball of the 45th over.