Win would crown centenary

Travis Stewart

In its centenary year, Stratford will get a chance to put some silverware in the trophy cabinet after defeating Woodleigh in the first semifinal of the T20 cometition.

Winning the toss and batting first, Stratford got off to the worst possible start with opener Finbar Moriarty dismissed fourth ball without a run on the board. Solid contributions followed by Denis Mihalijevich (19), Tom Bruce (36) and Liam Muggeridge (41). This allowed Stratford to post a competitive 141 for 7 from its 20 overs.

In reply, Woodleigh’s opener Jackob Schrader was run out without facing a ball before Jesse Vertongen and Phil Barraclough combined to put on 71 runs off 10 overs. Woodleigh hit a speed bump when Barraclough was run out for 31 and Vertongen dismissed the next over for 35. Mitchell Proffit only lasted one ball and Woodleigh found itself at 73 for 4 halfway through the 11th over. Unfortunately for Woodleigh, the middle and lower order could not capitalise on the start with Codey Rei and Josh Quinney also joining Proffit by being dismissed for a golden duck. Eventually, Woodleigh was all out for 128 giving Stratford the victory by 13 runs.

In the much anticipated second semifinal, Inglewood played  New Plymouth Marist United (NPMU) with the match turning into a one-act affair. Winning the toss and electing to bat, Inglewood lost opener Troy Chilcott first ball of the game off the bowling of Ryan Watson. The Inglewood batsmen could not gain any momentum with Hayden McIntyre and Matt Simpson the only players to post double figures.  Inglewood was dismissed for a paltry 76.

If there were any demons in the pitch these were quickly dispelled with Ryan Watson taking the long handle to the Inglewood attack scoring 29 off just 16 balls. Fellow opener Dean Robinson once again anchored the innings scoring 33 not out off 29 balls scoring the winning runs inside 10 overs for the loss of one wicket.

Stratford and NPMU will now contest the final at Pukekura Park on Sunday, February 28 starting at 2pm. This match will be live scored on CricHQ with live streaming available on TCA’s Facebook page.