The Deni Rhinos charged their way into a second consecutive Murray Valley Cricket Association grand final with a stirring 48 run win over Katamatite on Sunday.
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The Rhinos bounced back from consecutive losses to Cobram and Tocumwal to put forward their best batting performance of the season in the semi final at Barooga.
A dominant day one on Saturday saw Deni bat the full 80 overs with an 86 run effort by Andrew Hogan and 48 run stand by skipper Brad Todd (four boundaries and one ‘six’) helping the Rhinos to a score of 8/298.
It was a nervous day two for the Rhinos with Katamatite’s Brayden Beaton smashing 15 boundaries on his way to 110 runs off 109 balls.
However the bowling efforts of Nick Burnell (4/68 off 17) ensured that regular wickets fell to see Deni hold on to victory, bowling the Tigers out for 240 after 60.4 overs.
‘‘It is a good achievement to get back to the grand final, the boys are keen and ready to go,’’ Todd said.
‘‘It was absolutely our best batting performance of the season.
‘‘Tocumwal showed us the way last match and we nailed our batting at the weekend. Hopefully we can continue that into this week.
‘‘After last week we said one of the top four batsmen had to go on and make a score for us, we all got starts but didn’t consolidate (last week).
‘‘Hoges (Hogan) was definitely the pick of our batters and his efforts on Saturday showed why he’s one of the premier bats in the comp.’’
The Rhinos won the toss, not making the same mistake as they made against the Bloods and choosing to bat first on a flat wicket.
Disaster struck early for Deni however with Brenton Loudon caught for a duck off the bowling of Ben Beaton (1/40 off seven) in the first over.
A change to the batting line-up saw Ben Irwin promoted to number three, joining Dean Edge in the middle.
The pair kept the run rate up with a 52 run partnership before Irwin (24) was bowled by Daniel Parnell (3/53 off 18) in the 14th over, with the Rhinos sitting at 2/58.
Hogan and Edge (34) partnered up for 34 runs, pushing the score to 92 before the latter was caught, claimed by Bradley Parnell (3/75 off 18) in the 23rd over.
With three batsmen back in the shed the Rhinos called upon a returning Liam Pitts at number five.
The move proved to be crucial with Pitts and Hogan scoring heavily in an 86 run partnership.
Pitts managed five boundaries on his way to 34 runs, before he was trapped in front LBW by Sam Gordon (1/52 off 16) in the 50th over, leaving the Rhinos in control at 4/178.
Todd joined Hogan in the middle and picked up where Pitts had left off.
The duo managed 54 runs before the crucial wicket of Hogan, who hit nine boundaries, was taken by Bradley Parnell in the 67th over.
With just 13 overs left and the score on 232, the Rhinos looked to score quickly with Anthony Bradley partnering with Todd, with the pair pushing the score to 266 before the latter was bowled by Daniel Parnell in the 74th over.
The Rhinos piled on 32 runs in the remaining six overs with Bradley (17), Brodie Bennett (eight), and Dylan Rotherham (12 not out) pushing the score to 292, before Evan Pocock (six not out) faced the last two balls, hitting a ‘six’ on the final ball of the innings to have the Rhinos finish at 8/298.
Todd said he was quite pleased with the all-round batting performance of his side.
‘‘Ben (Irwin) was fantastic. We thought he did a great job against Cobram so we thought putting him at three would allow us to stretch our batting order out rather than go heavy up top,’’ he said.
‘‘It was an all-round effort though. Edgy, Pittsy and myself just had to bat with Hoges to help build our score and this resulted in us getting close to 300.
‘‘That sets the blueprint for us to follow this week against Cobram (in the grand final).’’
Needing 299 runs the win, Katamatite wasted no time in hitting the scoreboard, with openers Andrew Erickson and Gordon pushing the score to 25 runs after just four overs.
The Rhinos fought back however with four maiden overs in a row, before Burnell had Gordon (22) caught in the eighth over to have the Tigers at 1/25.
Erickson (11) was next to go for Katamatite, caught to be Burnell’s second scalp in the 14th over, with the game still in the balance at 2/46.
Burnell struck again for his and the Rhinos’ third wicket in the 16th over, with Shannon Pool (23) trapped in front, while the Tigers continued to score quick runs at 3/63.
A return to the bowling line-up from Brenton Loudon (2/24 off eight) saw another two breakthroughs for Deni, with the pace bowler claiming Jamie Magowan (one) and the dangerous Tom Pendlebury (23) to put the Rhinos in a strong position.
With Katamatite sitting at 5/107, Brayden Beaton dug deep to save his side’s innings.
It was a one man show for the Tigers, with Beaton causing some nervous moments for the Rhinos.
Deni maintained control with Daniel Parnell (23) trapped in front by Bradley (2/24 off six), to have Katamatite 6/162 after 45 overs.
The Tigers suddenly dropped to 8/196 after 51 overs when Ben Lukies (0) and Bradley Parnell (eight) were both removed.
But with Brayden Beaton at the crease, the runs continued to tick over.
A 42 run ninth wicket partnership between Beaton and Matt Hodge (12) saw the Tigers reach 238 with 20 overs left in the day, but when the latter was caught off the bowling of Hogan (1/39 off 10) Deni clawed back control.
The following over it was Todd who claimed the crucial wicket of Beaton (110), caught in the 61st over to end the game at 240 runs, with Ben Beaton finishing not out on one.
‘‘We knew it was going to take a superb batting effort from Katamatite to chase those runs,’’ Todd said.
‘‘Brayden Beaton batted really well and there were some nervous times but we just had to get our bowling right and build pressure to take regular wickets.
‘‘Nick (Burnell) was the pick of the bowlers on the weekend, his line and length was fantastic. He got us off to a good start taking some early wickets and keeping the pressure on their batsmen.
‘‘It was also good to see Brenton (Loudon) roll the arm over. We will probably look to bowl him as a containment bowler (in the grand final).
‘‘Hopefully he will be able to build on the weekend just gone, as that was the first time he’s bowled since November for Penrith when he dislocated his shoulder.
‘‘The game against the Tigers was a great preparation leading into this weekend.’’
The Rhinos will meet minor premiers Cobram at Cobram Showgrounds in the decider this weekend.
The Tigers qualified for the grand final by defeating reigning premier Barooga by four wickets in their semi final on Sunday, successfully chasing down the 177 run target in 70.3 overs.