On a drizzly, cold Labour Day afternoon Swifts-Great Western have claimed the 2020-21 Grampians Cricket Association premiership with a brilliant final day of play.
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It is the side's fourth consecutive grand final win and came after Combine claimed a clinical 57 run win over Buangor-Tatyoon in Tatyoon.
Combine's captain Sam Cocks said he was proud of the way the team responded after what was challenging year for his team and the association.
"We would have liked to have won yesterday, in front of our home crowd, but that is the way cricket goes you can't expect a side to roll over, especially a quality side like Buangor-Tatyoon," he said.
"We were extremely happy with 147 (today) and we thought if we could get towards 150 it would give us something really good to bowl at.
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"We have a really tight-knit group and we have all stuck together. We have got a good group who are all of a similar age and we get along really well.
"Throughout the year we have rung the changes because we have guys who are shift workers and we relied on a lot of juniors and great to give them a reward for their efforts."
The grand final series headed to Tatyoon for the third and final installment after Buangor-Tatyoon and Combine battled out a see-sawing contest for the premiership.
On day one at Tatyoon, Combine's bowlers did the damage, helping their side claim a 109 run win after bowling Buangor-Tatyoon out for just 42.
On day two it was Buangor-Tatyoon's turn to respond as they held the dangerous Combine top order to a modest 119.
All looked lost as Buangor-Tatyoon fell to 5-39 in their run chase, before stirring knocks from Michael Harricks (40) and Jacob Bates (29) forced the match into a third and deciding day at Tatyoon.
SETTING THE TARGET
With light rain in the morning and overcast conditions in the skies above, Combine made the bold decision to bat first on the Tatyoon green-top as they chased their fourth successive premiership.
Despite the tricky conditions Combine finished 7-147, setting a challenging target for Buangor-Tatyoon to chase against their fearsome bowling attack.
The Combine innings was an arm-wrestle, with neither side truly gaining the ascendancy.
Combine skipper Sam Cocks led from the front with a fast-paced 49 before he was caught off the bowling of James Phillips.
Charlie Neild's 38 not out and Jamie Bach's 20 were other important contributions, giving Combine a match-winning score.
For Buangor-Tatyoon, Phillips' 3-19 from eight overs, and Ashley Maconachie's 2-27 from seven overs led the way.
THE RUN CHASE
With a premiership on the line, Buangor-Tatyoon got off to a disastrous start losing their top three batsmen for 0 and falling to 3-2.
Matt Heffer was on fire as he took 3-22 from his eight overs, including three maidens.
After their heroics a day earlier Jacob Bates and Michael Harricks needed to find a way to do it again Buangor-Tatyoon fought to 4-51 at drinks after 20 overs.
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So after 220 overs of cricket across three days, the final 20 overs would decide the premier. Combine needed six wickets, Buangor-Tatyoon needed 97 runs.
After drinks, Combine continued their domination with the ball as Jacob Bates add 38, but no one else could withstand the Combine bowling attack.
In the end Buangor-Tatyoon were dismissed for 90 after 36 overs, with Chad Gilmour's 3-10 off eight overs joining Heffer as the best of the Combine bowlers.
After a superb bowling performance across all three days, Matt Heffer was declared the winner of the best on ground medal.
UNDERDOGS WIN
In the B Grade, Chalambar have taken out the grand final after deafeating Rhymney-Moyston at Moyston.
It caps off a remarkable finals campaign as Chalambar won the premiership after finishing fourth on the ladder.
Rhymney-Moyston batted first and could only manage 6-105 from their 35 overs.
A combination of a slow outfield and tight Chalambar bowling help restrict the total as Nathan Quick (31) and Daniel Taylor (28) topped the Rhymney-Moyston batting.
Chalambar were aggressive in their run chase with Shaun Smith and Ryan Bertram leading the charge.
Smith added 36 while Bertram to scored with 48 as Chalambar romped to victory at 2-106 with 11 overs to spare.
Smith claimed the best on ground award after his contributions with both bat and ball after also took 1-15 from his 7 overs.
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