BDCA TWENTY20: Dragons score win over Hawks, but fall short of final berth

SANDHURST rounded out its BDCA Twenty20 competition with a win over Eaglehawk on Wednesday night, but it wasn't enough to propel the Dragons into the final.

The Dragons defeated Eaglehawk by six wickets at Canterbury Park to finish second in Pool B, paving the way for a Strathfieldsaye v Bendigo United final on March 8.

To qualify for the final the Dragons needed to win and lift their net run-rate from 0.22 above Bendigo United's 1.56, but Sandhurst could only elevate its net run-rate to 0.60.

The win, which gave the Dragons a 3-1 record for the competition, was highlighted by a blistering knock from Sandhurst opener Ash Gray, who picked up from where he left off last Saturday.

Coming off an unbeaten ton at the weekend, Gray smashed 73 n.o. off 45 balls as the Dragons answered Eaglehawk's 8-126 with 4-128.

The Dragons reached their target in the 17^th over, with Gray's undefeated 73 - his highest BDCA T20 score - including four fours and four sixes.

Gray and Liam Stubbings (14 n.o.) closed the run chase out with an unbroken 46-run partnership.

Earlier after they won the toss and batted, the Hawks' 8-126 featured a top-score of 48 from opener Ben Williams.

The Hawks had been tracking along solidly at 1-71 in the 11^th over before losing 4-9 in the space of 14 balls, with Ben Yarwood picking up two of the wickets as part of his 3-23 from his four overs.

With the loss the Hawks ended the T20 tournament winless.

In Wednesday night's other game White Hills beat Huntly North by six wickets at the QEO.

Batting first the Power made 9-111, with opener Ryan Grundy leading the way with 31 off 33 balls.

Grundy cracked five boundaries against his former team, while Mitch Winter-Irving (2-20), Angus O'Brien (2-20) and Riley Fitzpatrick (2-17) all took two wickets for the Demons.

The Power gave themselves an early sniff of defending their total when they had the Demons 2-18 in the fourth over after a pair of breakthroughs by Jack Wilson (2-15), who dismissed Kyle Patten (6) and Winter-Irving (0).

But with opener Ben Irvine (40 n.o.) batting through the innings the Demons reached 4-113 in the 17^th over to improve their record to 2-1, while the Power end their T20 campaign 1-3.

STANDINGS:

Pool A - Strathfieldsaye (30), White Hills (18), Strathdale-Maristians (12), Huntly North (12), Kangaroo Flat (6).

Pool B - Bendigo United (24), Sandhurst (24), Bendigo (24), Eaglehawk (6), Golden Square (6).

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