Blues and Coyotes hard to separate

The last pool matches were played on Saturday and the Blues and Coyotes showed why they are the top two teams in the short form of the game with big victories over Canowindra and Valleys.

The Blues took on a fresh Canowindra side full of youth in the opening match at Cranfield Oval. 

With overcast conditions and a down pour of rain before the start of play, Blues’ skipper Cameron Jones sent Brendan Traves’ men into bat.

Canowindra started in their usual fashion scoring quickly before Ben Shaefer (13) skied one to mid-on of the bowling of Hargon Williams with the score at 46.

The inexperienced batting order found it tough to build momentum from there as the Sportspower Cup leaders limped to 114 from their 20-overs. 

Peter Guthrie (61) top scored for the maroons while Nick Traves (18) offered his support in the middle order. 

Nick Corbett was the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets.

In reply, the Blues signalled their intentions early as Zac Williams (42) swung the willow at anything full or short of a length. 

He, along with opening partner Jonte Powderly (56 not out) steered the Blues to victory putting together a match winning opening partnership of 75 as they made batting look easy on a slow, bowler friendly wicket.

Powderly hit three consecutive fours in the 13th over to put the game to rest, Corbett remained not out without facing a ball. 

Shaun Craven claimed two wickets for Canowindra, the only bowler to grab multiple wickets.

In the other match at Young, it was a similar story. 

Valleys began confidently with Jackson  Moodie (18) and Aaron Denzel (19) at the crease, but when each member of the top order failed to capitalise on good starts the green and golds were left to defend 114 after batting out the 20-overs.

Scott Wilson (27) top scored while Greg Garlick (17) also chipped in at first drop. 

Wickets were shared among the Coyotes bowlers, Duncan Cameron the pick of them with 3-28.

The Coyotes, much like the Blues in the game before, showed no hesitation in going after the Valleys attack.

 The damaging trio of Geoff Palmer, Ben Allen and Kris Skelly at the top of the order did the brunt of the damage as the Coyotes rocketed to the required total in 16 overs. 

Palmer (42) and Allen’s (36) partnership of 66 set up the victory which Skelly (26) made no mess of raking in. 

Aaron Denzel picked up two wickets in the end but it was to little to late for Valleys who failed to score a win in this summer’s Doug Wright Shield. 

Both Young teams are expected to square off in the final this Saturday at Holman Oval in Cowra. 

The match is set to begin at 4.30pm. 

Young Coyotes

Struggling to find their feet in the first half of the Sportspower Cup season, the Young Criterion Hotel Coyotes were somewhat of a dark horse heading into this summer’s Twenty20 Doug Wright Shield.

The newly-formed team currently has three wins and three losses to their name but a Grenfell forfeiture in round six helped the Coyotes to equal second at the Christmas break.

Since, however, it has been nothing but victories for the men from Young who have left their Pool B counterparts dumbfounded as not only has their batting clicked into gear but their bowling stocks have equally ramped up their performances.

Leading the way for the Coyotes have been their three experienced players at the top of the order - Geoff Palmer, Ben Allen and Kris Scelly - who are all yet to fail with the willow and are all averaging in the mid to high 30s in the shortest form of the game.

Scelly has backed his performances up with the ball bagging three wickets with an economy rate of just over five an over and he is shaping as a possible defining factor in Saturday’s final against the Blues.

“He’s been massive for us this season,” Coyotes skipper Ben Allen said.

“In previous seasons he has batted in the lower order but we moved him up and he’s been scoring plenty of runs and also taking wickets. He’ll be very important for us on Saturday,” he said.

Chasing Grenfell’s 128 in game one of the pool matches was the toughest of the lot for the Coyotes. 

Scraping out a win in the final over may have looked harder then it was, but it was sensible batting from Scelly (26 not out) and Palmer (19 not out) that got the finalists home with only the loss of two wickets.

Game two was an onslaught for the Coyotes, all batsman fired against a hapless Morongla outfit which had no reply for the rampant hard-hitters. 

Palmer (58), Scelly (53) and Allen (48), once again in the runs, did the damage before the seamers rolled Morongla for 58. It was a comprehensive victory which sparked momentum into the new year where they were able to finish off Valleys last Saturday and comlete a perfect three-nil winning record in Pool B.

Now they will be tested by their home-town rivals, the Blues, who are rallying off the back of a big win over Canowindra.

“We got a strong team and we are bringing an almost full-strength team to the final, we’re confident we can give them [Blues] a run for their money,” Allen said.

“They got a couple of danger men though who we will be looking to get out early. Luke Cosgrove and Josh Platt will be the wickets we’re chasing,” he said.

One teams unbeaten Twenty20 record has to come to end tomorrow - Allen’s men will be hard to handle particularly going in with the psychological advantage of a win over the Blues in round seven of the Sportspower Cup.

Young Blues

The Young Blues may be below their town rivals, the Criterion Hotel Coyotes, in the Sportspower Cup but when it comes to their Twenty20 records, the two are hard to separate. 

The Blues have worked hard all season to find consistency and that's exactly what they have achieved during this summer's Doug Wright Shield.

After knocking off a dangerous Bowling Club outfit in round one and getting a free pass in their second pool match against Aussie Hotel, the Blues put together a complete performance against Canowindra to signal a warning prior to tomorrow's final.

Having failed to muster up their full-strength team for back-to-back games during the season, skipper Cameron Jones rallied a team together without the likes of Josh Platt and Brendan Croese last Saturday and still managed to outplay Sportspower Cup leaders Canowindra.

If they are able to field their strongest team it will make for a fantastic showdown tomorrow. 

The likes of Platt at the top of the order with the damaging Jonte Powderly, and hard hitting duo of Zac Williams and Luke Cosgrove, makes for a team that could chase down any total and dispatch any bowling attack.

In the Blues' favour is the left arm bowling of Nick Corbett, Corbett has produced some great spells of bowling this season and will likely cause trouble on the Holman wicket. 

He claimed 3-17 against Canowindra last weekend and has bowled at rate of just over three runs per over in all forms of the game this entire season.

If he can grab the wicket of Ben Allen, Geoff Palmer or Kris Skelly early on it will help their cause immensely.

The Blues may go into the final as slight underdogs but they definitely have the strike-power to win this season's top tier Twenty20 competition.