Nine deadly Demons

By David Nagel
THE sharpest-shooters in the West (Gippsland Cricket Association), Kooweerup (7/329cc), loaded all barrels then blew away Pakenham (178) on the weekend to set up an explosive battle with Tooradin in this weekend’s grand final.
All the Demon’s big guns were smoking on Saturday but once again it was their most reliable marksman, Chris O’Hara (106), who led the assault from the front-line. He and his gun-slinging comrade, Michael Giles (47), never fail to deliver and had the Lions on the back-foot from the start of their semi-final confrontation.
Kooweerup executed its game plan to perfection with skipper Travis Canavan (74) saying just last week that wickets in hand were the key to finals success. How right he turned out to be with 204-runs coming off just 29 overs after the tea adjournment at a tick over seven runs per over. Nine wickets in hand certainly did the trick.
After winning the toss Canavan chose to bat and it was Giles who set a hot early pace. The left-handed rocket-launcher smacked a huge six over backward-square-leg before he played the same shot with the score on 67 and was brilliantly caught by Lions youngster Jack Anning on the boundary.
Shane Dole (64) joined O’Hara and the two worked the singles beautifully, keeping the scoreboard ticking over but doing so in a low risk fashion. Pakenham’s tactics of rushing through its overs with Ben Maroney (0/71 off 23) and Sugeesha Dinushan (0/31 off 15) almost worked when Dole lost patience just before the tea break but was dropped by Russell Lehman (3/45 off 14) at deep square-leg.
At tea the Demons were 1/125 off 51 overs, the perfect launching pad for a destructive late afternoon barrage.
Dole signalled the Demon’s intentions in the first over after tea by straight driving Maroney for a four and a massive six. Selflessly, he kept playing his shots which proved his undoing but not before putting on 112 with O’Hara for the second wicket.
O’Hara is an amazing batsman to watch, he goes almost un-noticed, accumulating runs along the way in a no-fuss manner until he pushes a single and the crowd applauds another fifty or a hundred. He also has a wide array of shots but his placement and working of the ball is a skill few have mastered like he.
Canavan also shared a century stand with O’Hara as the Demon’s stuck to its seven runs an over, post tea run-rate. Chris Bright (11) and Matt Davey (14) added the finishing touches to the home sides imposing innings.
Lehman was the pick of the Lions bowlers with three wickets while Maroney and Dinushan did well to restrict before the tea-break. Ben Miller (2/84 off 11) tasted multiple successes but copped a hiding along the way from his former team-mates.
Pakenham needed everything to go right on Sunday but suffered a massive blow when Davey had Lions gun Maroney caught behind off the third ball of his first over. From there it was all uphill for the visitors who never looked like threatening the Demon’s score.
Lehman (27), Jason Williams (19), Sean Gramc (33), Dinushan (32) and Dom Paynter (32) all had good starts but the Lions needed at least two of those to be converted into near tons to be a chance. For Kooweerup, youngster Adam McMaster (4/36 off 14) continues to be a wicket-magnet while Dole (3/54 off 17) topped off a fine all-round performance with three wickets.
The Demons used nine bowlers to clean up the Lions and that versatility will be a major factor next week while the Lions should be satisfied with a finals appearance in its first year of premier cricket.