LIAM DURKIN
CRICKET
GCL
By LIAM DURKIN
HOPES of back-to-back mens premierships in the Gippsland Cricket League for the Traralgon and District Cricket Association were thwarted on Sunday.
The Tornadoes were unable to take this seasons title after going down to Sale-Maffra in the final at Glengarry.
A strong performance with the bat saw the Sharks post 9/241 batting first after winning the toss.
The total proved to be enough, in what netted a fifth GCL flag in seven seasons for Sale-Maffra.
Sale-Maffra openers Adrian Burgiel and Rohan Blandford set a strong platform, combining for a partnership of 65 at the top.
Both players took the game on, with Burgiel cracking 39 from 31 balls and Blandford 45 off 56.
Runs continued to flow from Steve Spoljaric, who top scored for Sale-Maffra with a busy 51 off 65.
Handy contributions featured among the rest of the card, as Taylor Tatterson and Nathan Massey each made 24 and Ben Jones scored a run-a-ball 21.
Traralgon kept themselves in the contest by picking up wickets at semi-regular intervals throughout the 50 over allotment.
Anthony Scott ended with figures of 3/24 and captain Lee Stockdale took 3/28 from his 10 overs.
The pair then went out to open the batting for the Tornadoes in pursuit of the total.
A promising start by Traralgon saw Scott and Stockdale take the score to 30 before Shark spinner Isaac Love turned the game on its head.
After removing Stockdale, Love took the big wicket of Nat Freitag and then followed up by seeing the end of Scott, who looked set after scoring 30 from 28.
The Sharks first change bowlers then got stuck into the Traralgon middle order.
Al Jenkin did his best to stabilise the innings, but his dismissal for 42 saw the scoreboard reading 6/121.
From there, Sale-Maffra was able to close in on victory, as Traralgon, in trying to do the right thing so the run rate did not climb, continued to play their shots thus presenting opportunities for wickets.
In the finish, the Tornadoes were bowled out for 143 inside 40 overs.
Sale-Maffra captain Dylan Bolton completed a good day for his team, nabbing 5/14 from 7.3 overs.
The performance rounded out a remarkable rise for Sale-Maffra, who have gone from wooden spooner to premier in the space of 12 months.
