By Jonty Ralphsmith
Coomoora laid a foundation and took the scoreboard out of the equation.
Berwick Springs, naturally more aggressive, took the game on and stuttered.
Ultimately, both teams had 81 runs on the board after 40 overs.
The difference?
The Roos got through the first session unscathed, enabling them to unleash an assault late on a hot day.
The Titans lost four wickets and never truly recovered.
Winning the toss and batting first in the DDCA Turf 3 decider aided Coomoora, but their margin of victory reflected the monopoly the team has had on the competition since Christmas.
An experienced squad peaked at the right time and, after perennially threatening, has finally taken the step back into Turf 2 cricket.
Rahoul Pankhania and Lance Baptist set the game up with patient knocks and excellent temperament at the crease knowing the firepower they had to come.
Baptist, limited somewhat in output by a hand injury, was dismissed for an atypically patient 37, playing his role perfectly alongside Pankhania who anchored the innings with 78, shifting tempo excellently in a player of the match performance.
The tempo of the innings clearly lifted from the 60th over as the Titans’ continued to struggle for wickets.
Having kept the run rate relatively contained despite the struggle, the Roos exploded with 85 off the last 10 to turn what looked a 220-230 score into 5/269.
Joel Robertson (60 not out off 77) and Dean Krelle (46 off 27) were the beneficiaries of the openers’ hard work, while Liam Hard was energetic in his cameo of 20.
Robertson ran hard and dropped the ball into gaps as the Titans spread the field in attempts to limit the damage, while Krelle went over the top, crunching four massive maximums in a morale-sapping finish to day one for Berwick Springs.
The Titans weren’t without their chances throughout the day: Baptist gave a tough caught and bowled chance in the first over, Radomir Badzoka had one stump to look at to effect a run out in the 13th over, while Krelle was dropped on 21.
Berwick Springs’ batting innings never seriously threatened the total despite Archit Vora backing up his semi-final century with an unbeaten 54.
Riley Hillman was dismissed early, crunching one to backward square which summed up what awaited Berwick Springs.
Badzoka nicked off to first slip, Jackson Marie nicked off for 28 and Shalika Karunanayake had his stumps rattled.
Those three wickets came in a lethal and ultimately game-sealing six over period of the opening spell from Dean Krelle and Joel Robertson.
Much like the semi, albeit with fewer runs on the board, Vora and Braydon Hillman were left to pick up the pieces, and put on 51 together before the drift of Malan Madusanka brought him into the game.
After he got Hillman, it was a relative procession despite Vora ticking the scoreboard over at the other end.
Madusanka’s 19.5 overs yielded 4/32 including the winning wicket – a slower full ball driven straight to mid off.
The well-supported Roos were equal parts relieved and exuberant after a share of grand final heartbreak.
The appreciation for coach Nick Suppree and captain Liam Hard who have complemented each other beautifully this year was palpable from all the flag winners and was another storyline that precipitated premiership glory.
Premiership XI: Rahoul Pankhania, Lance Baptist, Nick Suppree, Liam Hard, Joel Robertson, Dean Krelle, Charith Sylvester, Lalanka Dhanasekara Mudiyanselage, Michael Klonaridis, Nick Lloyd, Malan Madusanka.
