By Tara Murray
The Gisborne and District Cricket Association Jensen Shield grand final lived up to expectations, with Lancefield narrowly getting over the line.
There was not much between Lancefield and Riddell going into the grand final and it played out that way on Saturday.
Both sides finished equal on points, while they had a win apiece from matchups between them.
The Tigers bowlers were able to hold strong late to hold on for a six run win.
Tigers captain-coach Alan Sinclair said the nerves were pretty high during the contest.
“It was a fantastic end,” he said. “You could not have asked for a better game of cricket.
“It could have gone either way, it was an unreal finish.”
The Tigers won the toss and decided to bat on their home deck in warm conditions.
It was a tough start early with the side slipping to 4-17. They were able to recover and finish 9-169 off their 40 overs.
Sinclair said it was a really good recovery from the side.
“To make 170 after being 4-17, we would have taken that every day for the week,’ he said.
“It gave us something to bowl to.”
Lachlan Mitchell held the innings together making 61. Sinclair made 33, while their tail wagged to get them up to 169.
Sinclair said Mitchell was fantastic and didn’t look like going out during that tough period early on.
Luke Castle took 3-19 off eight overs for the Bombers.
The Bombers were in trouble early in their run chase, falling to 2-7.
It brought the two Castle brothers together and they steadied the innings.
The Tigers though were able to get wickets at regular intervals to put the pressure back on the Bombers.
“They had their runs and then we fought back and we would fight back,” Sinclair said.
“We always thought we had it, but cricket is a funny game and it could have gone either way.”
Hayden Castle was the key for the Bombers with the bat and he was there in the dying overs.
It got down to the Bombers needing 25 off the last three overs and then 12 off the last over.
Luke Malone was the man with the ball in his hand for the Tigers in the final over.
Just one run came off the first five balls, to lock up the premiership for the Tigers.
Castle hit a four off the final ball, but it wasn’t enough with his side finishing 6-163.
Castle finished 75 not out.
Andrew Richardt was the only multiple wicket taker for the Tigers, with two wickets.
Mitchell was awarded man of the match for his performance with the bat.
“He took a great catch as well,” he said. “He was battling and limping towards the end, he was keeping too.
“It was tough in the middle with the ground quite slow, so there was a fair bit of running [while batting].
Sinclair said after making the semi finals last season, they wanted to go better season and were able to achieve that.
“It’s a young group as well,” he said. “A lot have not played finals before.
“It was fantastic for the young ones.”
The Tigers third XI lost their grand final to Gisborne. Sinclair said that side was a mixture of young ones and people who hadn’t played for a number of years.”
Now with that premiership, Sinclair said they were hoping to continue to build.
“Hopefully we’ll go up,” he said. “I’ll talk to the players and hopefully they’ll stick around and we can gain some more players.”
