Riverina has claimed its first ever Bradman Cup after going through the under 16s carnival undefeated this week.
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Coach Mark Favell has ridden the highs and lows with the Riverina side for half a decade and he was feeling “sensational” when he spoke to The Area News on Thursday.
He said the win was a credit to the players who oozed confidence and skill.
“The kids are just brilliant,” Favell said.
“They’re a brilliant bunch kids, I couldn't have asked for much better.
“I just had a gut feeling about this group.
“They are brimming with talent and once the team was put together, there was no way they weren’t going to win it.”
The win didn’t come easily, though.
After all four rounds had been played both Riverina and hosts Newcastle sat on three wins apiece.
It all came down to net run-rate which turned the coaching staff into mathematicians as they figured out what Riverina needed to win by.
“We were keeping an eye on mycricket all the time,” Favell said.
“Their [Newcastle] first innings finished before ours so we knew what we had to do.”
Riverina’s net run-rate finished on 1.5155 compared to Newcastle’s 1.3291.
The victory came on the back of a strong start.
A six-wicket win on day one was followed by victories by 67 and 45 runs.
The side was full of confidence heading into the final match against Ilawarra and it showed.
Riverina bowled first and a combined bowling effort saw Illawarra out for 92.
All six bowlers took at least a wicket each with Darcy Irvine (2/10) returning the best figures.
A couple early hiccups had Riverina at 2/10 but the middle order stood tall.
Riley Gow (11), Joshua Staines (10) and Reece Matheson (16) all made starts before Eddie Keogh (24*) and Dean Bennett (16*) finished off the job which resulted in a five-wicket win for Riverina.
Keogh was Riverina’s highest scoring batsmen at the carnival with 117 runs at an average of 58.5 while Rupert Lilburne was the side’s most potent bowler as he returned seven wickets at 9.57.