Rampant Raiders earn bonus points for match and maths results

As reported in The Sunday Examiner, bonus points allowed the composite Northern team to leapfrog over Kingborough and claim a berth by just 0.4 points.

It means Alistair Taylor's side will meet top-placed North Hobart next Saturday while second-placed Clarence host third-placed University.

Taylor had said Raiders' quickfire second innings of 258 on Saturday could prove pivotal after New Town had claimed a first-innings victory by just 16 runs (270 to 254) at Invermay Park.

Sisitha Jayasinghe (37 off 22), Aidan O'Connor (73 off 42) and Dan Murfet (64 off 46) all scored at a rapid pace with 10 sixes between them.

"We knew we were a sniff and changed the order a bit to have the big hitters at the top," Taylor said. "It was a good challenge for the boys and a different situation to what they're used to but very important.

"We'll be keen to get down there next week because we believe we've got a team good enough to give it a shake and win it.

"I'm extremely proud of how we have gone about our cricket since Christmas to put ourselves in this position and we are excited about the opportunities ahead.

"We've been playing good, consistent cricket since January."

The final-round loss was the only blemish on Raiders' two-day form in 2024.

Since defeating South Hobart Sandy Bay in January, the Northern composite team have claimed first-innings wins over Kingborough at UTAS Stadium plus Lindisfarne and Clarence away.

Raiders are hopeful they may have dynamic all-rounder Sam O'Mahony back for the semi.

"Hopefully, we'll have a full squad," Taylor added. "It's a fantastic achievement to get to where we are.

"In the second half of the season we simplified a lot of things in two-day cricket, just had belief and produced some outstanding individual performances.

"The team changed week to week but this shows we were able to adapt.

"We enjoy the two-day format but would not have won too many two-day games in our history so are glad to change that around."

P Pts W L T N/R

1 North Hobart 20 92.8 11 8 0 1

2 Clarence 20 82.5 12 7 0 1

3 University 20 77.6 8 10 0 1

4 GN Raiders 20 77.5 6 13 0 1

5 Kingborough 20 77.1 11 7 0 2

North Hobart v GN Raiders

Clarence v University