Winch steam-rolls way into playoff
WINCHELSEA has advanced to its second grand final in as many years after a clutch semifinal victory over Little River.
The Blues stunned the minor premier with a bowling performance that restricted the Redbacks to 67, their lowest score for the season.
A tactical move to send the home side in after winning the toss clearly paid off.
Little River was also hurt by the absence of captain-coach Nic Fairchild, who was timed out because he was unable to play the first half of the match due to work commitments.
“Most of the results at Little River this year have been won by the team batting second,” Winchelsea captain-coach Adam Korth said.
“Last time we played them the ground was a bit slow and a little bit different to what we are used to, which makes it hard for us to know what a good score is.
“So we thought we would bowl first and back our bowlers, and get an idea on how the ground was going by how the other team goes.”
The homework didn’t stop there either, with Korth deciding to open with Ray Edwards Jr and Sam Riseley.
Edwards was outstanding, taking 4-7 from his eight overs, including the wickets of key batsmen Casey Lang (0), Isira Silva (1), Shaun Keenan (0) and Heath Bewley (0).
“We knew two of their strongest batters were openers so we thought we would throw our best two bowlers at them straight up,” Korth said.
“Ray (Edwards) was great and just rose to the occasion.
“He bowled tight areas and got a bit of movement, and fortunately a few of balls went to hand this time.”
Riley Berg was also superb late, taking 4-12 after suffering an injury in the week.
“Riley was great, although he was under an injury cloud after falling off the ladder at work,” Korth said.
“I think it may have even helped him a bit as he was able to just concentrate on his line and length rather than fast and it was probably the best he bowled all year.”
After keeping the home side to a paltry 67, Winchelsea wasted no time in chasing down the runs.
“We knew that if we were able to keep scoring then the lack of runs would put pressure on them, so we tried to score freely and wrap it up earlier rather than later,” Korth said.
“Angus Leigh (30 not out) and Dougal McKindlay (23 not out) played really well so it was good to not put too much pressure on ourselves on such a small chase.”
Winchelsea will now take on Inverleigh on Saturday in the decider.
“(Inverleigh) has beaten us twice this year, but it always seems to be a tight game against them,” Korth said.
“We know what we are up against, but we also know it’s a great opportunity to win a grand final and after yesterday we are full of confidence.”