MORE CRICKET - Kingower v Wedderburn | PHOTOS
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
FOR the second year in a row Kingower and Arnold will battle in the Upper Loddon Cricket Association grand final following a pair of batting blitzes on the weekend.
Arnold belted 6-484 in its semi-final win over Inglewood, while Kingower crunched 305 in its first innings against Wedderburn, with four centuries scored across the two games.
Arnold's score of 484 was the highest in the ULCA this season and featured centuries to Matt Giri and Ryan Metelmann.
Giri cracked 190 and Metelmann 109 - his second ton in the past four games.
MORE CRICKET - Perrin's six-wicket haul lifts Spring Gully to victory
The Redbacks' monster score featured two significant partnerships.
Metelmann and Cameron Dale (55) put on 165 for the first wicket, while Giri and Brenden Younghusband (56) later topped that with 177 for the fifth that pushed the score from 223 to 400.
Giri was denied the chance of becoming the ULCA's second double century-maker alongside Newbridge's Taz Fitzallen in the past fortnight when he was caught by Rhys Roberts off Glen Peters (1-12) for 190. As well as catching Giri, Roberts (2-66) also bowled Metelmann.
Starting Sunday facing a daunting proposition of needing to make 485, Inglewood had been 1-134 at lunch - the game at that stage having 618 runs scored for the loss of just seven wickets.
However, Inglewood finished just under halfway to its target, all out for 237, with the highlight knock 113 from opener Roberts.
Inglewood's last nine wickets fell for just 50 runs after it had been 1-187.
Cody Anderson (4-32) and skipper Michael Dale (3-34) combined for seven wickets for Arnold.
• Kingower's 167-run victory over Wedderburn propelled it into its 10th grand final in the past 17 years.
Kingower veteran Ben Rose outscored Wedderburn on his own, compiling 141 in the reigning premier's total of 305 on Saturday.
Placing further impetus on Rose's century, he was forced to dig in with his side under pressure early at 2-11 and later 3-49.
As well as Rose's 141, Nick Leach's solid all-round season continued with a knock of 51 in the middle-order.
MORE CRICKET - Strathdale's BDCA finals hopes take a big hit
Rose's century wasn't the only highlight performance of day one, with Wedderburn opening bowler Adam Postle bagging six wickets.
Postle finished with 6-106 off 32 overs, which included the scalp of Rose, who was caught by Owen Lockhart.
Having gone to stumps on Saturday at 2-35, Wedderburn was all out just after lunch on Sunday for 138.
Skipper Braydon Welsh (2-35) and Lachlan DeJong (3-27) took three wickets apiece for Kingower.
Andrew Brett's 38 n.o. was the top score for Wedderburn, which stumbled when it lost opener Bradley Holt (26), Liam Ritchie (16) and Steven Giorlando (0) all with the score on 60.
The match also featured a second innings, with Kingower making 236 and Wedderburn 3-58.
NORTHERN UNITED
Elmore, Dingee, Bagshot and Colbinabbin are the four teams that will contest the Northern United finals.
Colbinabbin made sure of its return to the finals for the first time since 2015-16 by making a mess of Heathcote.
With Chris Guinane taking 4-5, Colbinabbin bowled Heathcote out for 40 before answering with 3-45 - the Ducks' fifth win in a row.
In other games in Saturday's final round, Raywood (179) defeated Goornong (169); Bagshot (125) was too good for Calivil (8-97); and minor premier Elmore (3-230) belted Dingee (9-137) in the 1 v 2 clash.
Final ladder:
1. Elmore - 150
2. Dingee - 131
3. Bagshot - 90
4. Colbinabbin - 86
5. Raywood - 78
6. Heathcote - 59
7. Calivil - 36
8. Goornong - 29
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.
