Balgownie book Cricket Illawarra grand final berth after tense victory

The Magpies will aim for a third premiership in four years in next weekend’s grand final against Helensburgh, with the Tigers recording a four-wicket victory over Keira.

Chasing 166 for the win, Balgownie fell to 5-65, before Adam Berwick led the team to a four-wicket victory.

”It’s a big achievement,” captain Jamie Fleming said. “​I think we’ve won five out of the last 10 years. It’s a golden era for the club and we really want to capitalise on it.”

Balgownie bowled first and the minor premiers were off to the perfect start, reducing Uni to 6-41. 

The poor University start was typical of the team’s season, with top and middle order collapses coming regularly. As has been the case in recent weeks, the lower order fought hard to help the side post a defendable score, with Ben Page (75) leading Uni to 166 late on Saturday. 

Uni captain Mitch Calder was disappointed with how the match started, lamenting yet another top order collapse.

“We have a deep batting order,” Calder said. “It’s a shame we’ve had to resort to our lower order each week. It would’ve been nice to get a few more out of the top order, but Kody Freeman bowled really well to take a few wickets at the top and Jamie took a few vital wickets.

“You can’t be expecting to win too many games when you’re 6-40.”

The bowling display was a team effort for Balgownie, with Fleming, Freeman and Dean Watson each taking three wickets.

“Our bowling’s been one of our strengths all year,” Fleming said. “We definitely did the job with the ball early, we knew the wicket would flatten out towards the end of the day and it would be tough to get wickets, we just had to be persistent.”

Despite holding a dominant position, Balgownie had a top order collapse of their own and Uni held the upper hand when they reduced the Magpies to 5-65 on Sunday morning. 

Balgownie, however, possess a deep batting lineup and Berwick (92*) was able to combine with the tail to guide the team home.

Despite watching wickets fall regularly, Fleming was confident his side would pull through.

“We knew we had to weather the early storm. We bat down to 11, we have a strong batting lineup, so we just had to weather the storm and if we could, we’d come through at the end. 

“Adam Berwick was the rock of the innings. It was just clean hitting, he was smacking balls to all parts of the ground. It was one of the best knocks I’ve seen him have, especially given the pressure.”