A blistering century from opener Ethan de Bono stamped Wollongong's T20 supremacy on Friday night, the innings setting up a 74-run win over Keira and the first piece of silverware on offer this season.
De Bono's knock of 116 came off just 67 balls, his second century this year after smashing a quick-fire 146 of just 110 deliveries for Illawarra in the Creighton Cup in October.
It didn't require a great deal of running, with 13 boundaries and four sixes contributing 76 runs to his total. He was ably supported by Jayden Zahra-Smith's 38 runs off 32 deliveries, while Cooper Maddinson contributed a quick-fire 22 off 12 balls.
Toby Dodds saw out the innings with de Bono, with Wollongong posting 188 for the loss of just two wickets. Keira could manage only 114 runs in response, Rhys Cattle's 28 off 20 the best offering with the bat as the innings concluded at 17.1 overs.
David Wood did the damage with the ball, finishing with 3/22 off his four overs, while Pushpinder Jassal had two wickets for 19 runs and Zahra-Smith claimed 2/25 off four overs. Josh Yeaman and Maddinson collected the final two wickets, the latter's coming off a single ball to wrap up the match.
Wollongong will now be looking to break a 55-year drought in claiming the one-day crown later this season having fallen short in last year's final.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
