Victoria Country has finished second at the Australian Country Cricket Championships in Mount Gambier, one point shy of South Australia Country.
The Vics defeated New South Wales Country in the final round to score their fourth win from five matches, chasing down 231 in just 38.4 overs with one wicket in hand.
Ex Students batsman Greg Munro and former Gormandale gun Adrian Burgiel came to the party in the big run chase, scoring 19 and 33 respectively.
Victoria’s win-loss record was the best of the carnival but South Australia Country’s outright triumph in its two-day match against East Asia Pacific powered the state to its first men’s title at the carnival, despite only managing three victories in total.
The championship’s inaugural women’s division was won by a team comprising the best female players from the International Cricket Council’s EAP region.
The EAP side, comprised of players from Vanuatu, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Japan, was the first female team from the region to play in a sanctioned tournament.
South Australia’s Ben Smith claimed the ‘Player of the Championships’ in the men’s division after registering 232 runs at an average of 58 including an unbeaten century against East Asia-Pacific and four catches.
South Australia’s Brittany Perry claimed the ‘Player of the Championships’ in the women’s division with 223 runs at an average of 44.6.
