U16 Dowling Shield SFs: Emus, Rockets to face off in decider
The Inner East Emus and the Barwon Rockets have advanced through to the final of the Under-16 Dowling Shield.
The Emus won a high quality game against the South East Bayside Breakers by 37 runs.
Batting first, the Emus lost Luke Davidson (3) early, before Andrew Young joined opener Sam Milne at the crease.
The pair put on 77 runs for the second wicket until Milne was run out for 38.
Jonathan Merlo came and went for one, bringing Nathan Boucher to the middle.
With Young firing at the other end, Boucher settled in and was soon scoring at will like his partner.
Another big partnership ensued, with Young and Boucher putting on 86 before Young was dismissed for a brilliant 91.
Boucher kicked on however, finishing unbeaten on 77 while guiding his side to a highly competitive total of 5-247.
With 305 runs for the tournament, Boucher has become the leading run scorer for the competition.
Incredibly, he has only been dismissed once, making his championship average a whopping 305.
In response, Breakers batsmen Edward Newman and Shubham Bhargave became the tournament’s second and third highest scorers respectively as they both notched up half centuries.
With the help of Austin Heldt (40) and Harry Wardlaw (20) the top four dominated the Emus’ bowlers, steering the Breakers to a strong position at 2-157.
Newman’s dismissal for 65 was quickly followed by the exit of Bhargave (50) however, and the game was back in the balance.
Seamus Bolton (4-35) and batting hero Boucher (3-39) did the damage, picking up wickets and gradually giving the Emus the momentum.
At 6-207, the Breakers simply needed too many runs in too little time, and ultimately lost their last four wickets for just three runs to be all out for 210.
The strong all-round performance sees the Emus through to the final where they will face the Barwon Rockets.
The Rockets took care of the Western Spirit with the help of an outstanding batting partnership between Jordan Rossi (86*) and Mitchell Diamond (77).
After winning the toss and batting first, the Rockets pair put on a tremendous batting display as they compiled 147 runs for the fifth wicket.
They came together with the Rockets in deep trouble at 4-36, with their efforts rescuing the innings and setting the platform for the eventual team total of 7-209.
Despite an opening partnership of 37 between Mehtaab Singh (22) and Daniel Venables (25), the Spirit never really got going in its chase.
A number of batsmen made starts but no one could push on and consolidate.
Led by Jack Hodgson (3-30), the Rockets’ bowlers consistently took wickets throughout the innings, eventually dismissing the Spirit for 149 and taking the victory by 60 runs.
The impressive win sends the Rockets through to face the Emus in the final on February 8.
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