Northern Districts will be confident of reaching the 2nd Grade 2-Day Final on the back of a very strong team selection and the fact that they have performed against all Top 4 teams this season. They will enter the contest as underdog as Keira are the #1 seed, have home field advantage and are undisputed reigning champions. This is a delicious encounter though as it was the Butchers who were crowned the year prior.
Keira is a very strong batting side and have been led by centurions Paul Dunn and Nicholas Theodossiadis; each also crossing 300 runs for the season mark. Dunn in particular will be the danger man; his 99 in the round #9 encounter was clearly the difference in the match when only one other player passed 20. Simon Williams and Col Steele have each also had relatively strong seasons, there is little doubt that Keira will provide a challenge to the Butcher bowlers this weekend.
With the ball, Keira will look to Jack Dobinson (19 wickets), James Pirie (16 wickets) and Nathan Lawson (14 wickets) to spearhead their attack. Dobinsons best of 6/21 came against University while Lawson recently claimed 7/41 against the struggling Corrimal side.
Northern Districts will go into the match with a strong bowling attack; it may just turn out the match is decided in the battle between Butcher bowlers and Keira batsmen.
Eric Denhartog will take the new ball; boasting 27 wickets across three Grades this season with a best of 4/24. He has a miserly average of 11 and is extremely difficult to get away. Not only is his height and bounce difficult to contend with; he has run into red hot form and gained a few yards in pace as well. Graeme Sismey will likely open from the other end - a wily and seasoned campaigner who can turn any match with bat or ball. His 15 wickets and 160 runs shows he generally gets right into the thick of things; he's been there and done that and will bring a wealth of experience to the lineup.
Jack Daskey will represent the spin department and will look to use his couple games in the top grade this year as a platform from which to attack; his 23 wickets across both grades includes a best of 4/35. The last time these two teams met Daskey took an economical 3/38 on the batting friendly Keira Oval. Part time medium pacer and Captain Mick Allen will play supporting role with his deceiving cutters - in that memorable Final two years ago he took 3/4 in 6 overs at this ground and will go into this game on the back of 14 wickets this year.
The batting, while not as strong as the bowling currently, is riddled with potential. Ean Martin scored 97 in the semi final here two years ago and always looks like today is the day for a half century. Jackson Stewart is the side's sole centurion and is fresh from another dominating and premiership winning season in 16A's. Toby English has scored 272 runs with a best of 99 across three Grades while Jacob Hand - the hero of the 16A Final with 96* - also has a hundred in Juniors this year and is really starting to blossom with maturity well beyond his years. Luke Coleman has started finding the form on turf wickets that he had on synthetic last year while Rhys Marsh is just one large knock away from knowing he can dominate this competition. Finally all-rounders Michael Doig and Graeme Sismey have the natural flair to win a match by themselves on their day.
The last time the teams met was a nail-biter - 6 runs the difference at the end of a classic day's cricket. Keira is the deserving #1 ranked side and the Butchers know they have to bring their A-game (as they have before) if they are a chance to win this one.
This article has been viewed 266 times!
