Rich rewards: Cats sew up finals berth
We needed to win we’ll and we won, so take that.
COMING into the final round of the regular season, Geelong sat four points clear of Northcote (ninth) on the Premier Cricket ladder.
The equation was simple for the Cats: win and a finals place was secured.
And that is just what they did, a superb finish claiming a 35-run victory over Frankston Peninsula and booking a place in an elimination final against Richmond.
“We needed to win and we won, so we’ll take that,” coach Nick Speak said.
“We got to a total that was probably par for the wicket, maybe a little bit over ... we just didn’t have one big partnership, which would have pushed us to 260, 270, 280.
“We didn’t bowl too well with the new ball, we bowled short and full ... and then we sort of dragged it back through the middle.”
A score of 243 from Geelong at home was a strong start to the game and had it in the box seat for a finals berth.
The early part of Geelong’s innings started well with the game evenly poised. But when the Cats slipped to 5-129, the result seemed to be tilting in Frankston Peninsula’s
direction. Enter Liam Blackford (97 not out) and Daanish Mehta (34).
The pair put on a 79-run partnership to steer Geelong to 208. Mehta departed soon after but Blackford remained for the rest of the innings, leading Geelong to an imposing 9-243 from its 50 overs.
Speak praised the young gun for his mature innings.
“Pretty good for an 18year-old . . . guys were coming in and starting partnerships then getting out, and he had to start again then with a new batter,” he said.
“He showed a lot of maturity.”
With the ball, Geelong could not have started better thanks to two quick Brody Couch (3-31) wickets, reducing Frankston Peninsula to 2-17. The visitors responded, however, working their way to 4-132 to give themselves a sniff.
But it was all the Cats from that point on, finishing the game with 6-76. Hayden Butterworth (2-26) and Tom O’Connell (2-38) claimed two of the final six wickets each to help secure the win.
Speak said his bowling attack would hold the key to the Cats’ chances against Richmond.
“(Richmond’s) wicket’s very different to ours ... it’s kind of slow, it’s not an easy scoring ground,” he said.
“You can’t afford to miss your length. It’s our bowling that will probably win out on Saturday for us.
“The bowling attack’s been good, we bowled well against Melbourne last week and Carlton the week before, so we know what we missed (this round) and we’ll fix that up this week on the track and be ready Saturday.”
O’Connell was joined by gun quick Josh Garner in Victoria’s second XI squad to face Tasmania, starting today.