ILLAWARRA CRICKET
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Corrimal finished unbeaten and Helensburgh snatched a semi-final spot at the expense of Balgownie following the double-header finish to the Illawarra Twenty20 competition on Saturday.
Corrimal beat reigning T20 champions Keira by six wickets in their pool B decider at Ziems Park to claim top spot and hosting rights for this Sunday’s semi-finals.
Earlier, Corrimal (0-60) thrashed Dapto (9-59) and then sealed top spot with an impressive win over Keira, who were without NSW Country stars Graeme Batty and Jono Cook.
Set 114 for victory, the Cougars’ Tom McDevitt blasted 62. Peter Broyd took 2-8 for Keira.
Neel Honavar made 45 for the Lions. And in a great performance by Corrimal’s McDevitt brothers, left-arm spinner Xavier McDevitt took 3-16, after also taking three wickets against Dapto.
‘‘It’s one of the best days the club has had since returning to first grade,’’ Corrimal skipper Rob Fisher said.
‘‘We had players make runs and take wickets and do their part in the field.
‘‘The McDevitt brothers starred but right across the whole team we played well. We can’t wait for the semi-finals.
Corrimal (18 points) host pool A runners-up Helensburgh in Sunday’s semi-final at Ziems Park (2pm).
Wollongong host Keira in the other semi-final at North Dalton Park. (2pm).
The Burgh (16 points) finished second to Wollongong in pool A, after a last-over triumph over Balgownie and 25-run win over Port Kembla.
Chasing Bally’s 7-131, the Burgh won by one wicket. The winning runs came from three wides off Illawarra spinner James Fleming from the second-to-last ball of the match.
The Burgh then made 4-145 against Port (110). Dan Lee (35) top-scored for Port and Josh Piper took 4-8 for the Burgh.
Other highlights from the 10 matches last Saturday included Keira (6-131) sealing second spot in pool B with a one-run win over Northern Districts (130).
Keira opener Mark Johnston smashed 71. And Norths, led by Matt Salakas (33) and Mark Johnson (33), were 0-72. But they were bowled out off a run-out from the second-to-last ball of the match.
Wollongong (3-139) sealed a semi-final spot with a 32-run win over University.
Toby Flynn-Duncombe (47 not out) led the way for Wollongong.
In their second match of the day, Dapto (5-134) and Uni (7-134) tied.
Uni, needing seven to win off the last over and one from the final ball, had Sharath Shailesh run out.
Dapto’s Michael Stephenson (42) and Uni’s Mitch Calder (38) top-scored.
Port enjoyed their first win by beating Wests.
Matt Skora (53) top-scored for Port (8-124) while Oscar Oborn-Corby took 3-6 for Wests (111).
The T20 final is on Sunday, February 2.