Cressy has earned a second crack at Longford this TCL Premier League finals series after defeating Hadspen by 20 runs in Saturday’s preliminary final at Cressy Oval.
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Bulldogs captain-coach Damian Whybrow’s decision to bat first paid off with his charges 0-30 of just three overs.
However, Chieftains skipper Liam Reynolds claimed both Whybrow (14) and his opening partner Mark Cooper (12) in his first over to peg the going back.
Reynolds had Danny Bennett trapped LBW for 1 and Cressy were 3-86 at drinks with Sam Graham and Varun Nadesh going on to combine for a priceless 138-run fourth wicket partnership.
Nadesh fell for 65 and Graham was unbeaten on 78 after 40 overs with Cressy ending up 5-125.
Nick Price (1-42) and Simon Clay (1-62) were Hadspen’s other wicket takers.
In reply, Nathan Balym (17) and Brad Eames (22) got the visitors off to a steady start before they found themselves 2-59.
Reynolds (30) was joined at the crease by Damian Woods (67) and the pair put on 96 before the Chieftains lost three wickets for one run to be 5-156 with seven overs to go, which inevitably stalled their momentum.
From there Hadspen scratched around with Simon Clay (12), Nick Price (13 not out) and Matt Tidey (9) chipping in only for them to fall 20 runs short with three wickets in hand.
Nadesh collected 2-29 and Graham picked up 2-40 to cap off two sensational individual performances, while Whybrow (1-14), Bennett (1-52) and Sam Henley (1-28) all claimed a scalp each.
Longford and Cressy will play-off for the title at Hadspen Oval on Saturday, with the Country Tigers chasing a three peat.
In other news, Trevallyn defeated Perth in the A-grade decider with both teams set to be promoted to Premier League next season at the Diggers’ expense.