By ROY WARD
OAKLEIGH has claimed its second Victorian Sub District Cricket Association Legends and Heroes Twenty20 title with 21-run win over Plenty Valley at Coburg City Oval last week.
The Oaks made it two titles in three years with an impressive bowling performance as they defended their first-up total of 5-124, keeping the Bats to 9-103 from their 20 overs.
Indeed the Bats looked likely to be kept under 100 before hitting a boundary off the final delivery of the match.
Oaks captain Jarrod Travaglia praised his side for its consistent performance and professionalism throughout the competition. “I’m just rapt for all the boys,” Travaglia said.
“It certainly does matter to us, the Twenty20 competition has been going for four years and we have been in the grand final three times now for two wins and a loss, so we definitely wanted to be in a positive position on the ledger and not 1-2.”
After Travaglia took a wicket in the second over the Bats looked to be pressing ahead getting to 1-41 before spinner Joe Roberts (3-9) had a Bats batsman caught on the fence.
That wicket and the end of the first power play saw the runs dry up for the Bats, with the Oaks able to build pressure which soon led to two more quick wickets with slow-medium bowler Rob McCartney (4-20) and Roberts leading the way.
The task slowly got harder for the Bats and when star import Lorenzo Ingram (28) was caught off the bowling of McCartney, the Oaks knew they had the trophy in the bag.
A boundary off the final delivery didn’t dampen the celebrations either.
Travaglia praised the efforts of McCartney and Roberts while also commending the in-form Brent Warren for his 57 with the bat.
Roberts was named man of the match. “We knew having runs on the board would always be crucial,” he said.
“Throughout the year we haven’t bowled that well in power plays, especially the first power play, so we knew that when we got the sweepers back we had bowlers who could really tighten up at each end and that is what happened from overs six to 15.
“Once we got sweepers back we put the spinners on and took the pace off the ball, which worked well for us.
“Roberts and McCarthy were outstanding. Robbie hasn’t played a lot of first XI cricket so for him to get four wickets was outstanding while Joey is a senior player for us and he was important too.”
With the Oaks on the verge of claiming the minor premiership and home ground advantage for the upcoming finals, Travaglia made it clear his side had greater success on their mind in the coming five weeks.
“It’s another slice of pie along the way but our goal is to win the Saturday premiership,” he said.
“We are proud to win any silverware and I know it will give the boys a lot of confidence in the finals.”
■ Oakleigh scored a first innings win over Ivanhoe in their VSDCA clash on Saturday and now look likely to finish the season as minor premiers.
The Oaks, who took a first innings win on the first day, kept batting into the second day before putting their opponents back into bat at the end.
The Oaks could only get six wickets before play ended.
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