Exies Eagles have overcome a slow start to their chase to come away with a two-wicket win in the Don Coleman Twenty20 Shield final against Coro on Sunday afternoon.
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The Cougars, without Dean Bennett and regular captain Haydn Pascoe, won the toss they were able to make a strong start at with Mitch Williams-Hedges and Jake Rand.
The pair were able to put on 23 runs in the first four overs before Williams-Hedges (11) was caught off the bowling of Arjun Kamboj.
Kamboj (3/16) was able to back that up with the wickets of Tim (4) and Jake Rand (16) within the next four overs to have the Coro side wobbling on 3/35.
It would be the consistent fall of wickets that would prove the undoing of the Cougars.
Ben Signor (8) and Angus Boulton (7) fell in quick succession to Bock before the young quick bowler followed it up when he dismissed Yash More for a duck to see the Cougars sitting on 6/61 after 13 overs.
Teei Piawi (25) was the only Cougar to put runs on the board in the middle overs with Bock (5/15) picking up another two to complete a five-wicket haul as the Cougars finished their 20 overs on 9/100.
The Eagles chase made a slow start with Alex Flood picking up the wickets of Craig Burge (2) and Aditha Jayasuriya (0) in the first over while Williams-Hedges took the wicket of Bradyn Challis to have the Eagles sitting on 3/5 after the first two overs.
Bock and Exies captain Marc Tucker were given the tough task of trying to save their side and were able to put on 31-runs over the next five overs before Bock (20) became Williams-Hedges second victim.
Tucker continued to keep the score ticking over with Zac Dart playing a good supporting role in a 25-run partnership which got their side to 61 after 13.3 overs before Rob Rand removed Dart (2).
Rand (3/33) followed it up with the crucial wicket of Tucker (41) and then Josh Davis (0) two balls later while Ben Signor (1/7) knocked over Sam Breed (0) in the next over to see Exies requiring 22-runs off the final 20 deliveries.
Duane Ashcroft and Jimmy Mann rotated the strike for the first three balls of the next Rand over to get their side within 18 runs of victory.
It was at that point Ashcroft went big to hit three consecutive sixes, including one which saw the ball end up in the cemetery across the road to hand Exies the title with two wickets in hand and two overs remaining.
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Liam Warren
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
