Suns back on top as BDCA's T20 champions for the sixth time

The Suns won their sixth BDCA T20 title at Canterbury Park on Wednesday night, defeating Golden Square by four wickets with 25 balls to spare in the grand final.

Although it's a record sixth Twenty20 flag for the Suns, it had been five years since they last triumphed.

The Suns were skippered to victory by Daniel Clohesy, who also earned the man of the match award.

"It has been a few years since we've won it... it's always a bit tricky with these games in terms of giving young kids a go at senior level, but also giving yourself the best opportunity to play your best XI and I think we've done really well with that," Clohesy said.

"Everyone who played in this side this year, whether they were the youngest or oldest, contributed at some point to us winning."

On a warm and windy evening Golden Square compiled 107 batting first in an innings that was motoring along early, stalled in the middle and then required a late partnership from Zavier Abbott and Jake Higgins to get the score above 100.

The game couldn't have started any better for the Suns when off the first delivery of the match Jack Pysing had Square opener Mitch Kemp (0) caught at second slip by Jack Neylon.

However, some early big hitting from fellow opener Mat Christie with support from Jayden Templeton (17) had the scoreboard ticking over.

Square was 1-29 after three overs before Will Purcell bowled Christie.

Christie made a quickfire 17 off 12 balls with four boundaries.

But from 1-30 Square lost 8-58 to fall to 9-88 in the 16^th over, with the last of those wickets a direct hit run-out from third man by Will Gilmore on Square captain Connor Miller (2).

Similar to what he did for the Sporties Spitfires in the GVBBL grand final earlier this month, Square's Kayle Thompson played a pivotal grand final knock.

Batting at No.6, Thompson top-scored for Square with 32 off 27 balls.

Thompson had one stage been three of 12 deliveries before unleashing a barrage of sixes.

Thompson smashed four sixes in his innings.

From 9-88 the last pair of Abbott (9 n.o.) and Higgins (9) added a further 19 runs, pushing the Square innings into the final over before Higgins was caught behind as Pysing finished as he started - with a wicket for figures of 2-28 off 3.2 overs.

Opening bowler Purcell was outstanding for the Suns with 2-11 off four overs, while left-arm spinner Charlie Ryan (2-28) also took two wickets.

And leg-spinner Cameron Taylor was economical with 1-11 off four overs.

Skipper Clohesy took two nice catches to dismiss Scott Trollope (1) and Liam Smith (7), while also claiming a wicket himself when he bowled Josh Simpson (2).

"Will (Purcell) almost changed the game for us with his spell early. Golden Square came out all guns blazing as you'd expect on that wicket and Will got hit a little bit in his first over," Clohesy said.

"But for him to bounce back in his second, third and fourth overs and take a couple of key wickets for us was really good and he's starting to build a lot of momentum in his senior career."

Pysing, Taylor, James Barri (1-18) and Clohesy all took wickets in the first overs they bowled.

Although it wasn't first ball of the innings, Strathdale-Maristians also had one of its openers dismissed for a golden duck in reply when Brodie Reaper (0) was lbw to Trollope first ball he faced in the opening over.

While Reaper was dismissed early, the Suns' other opener, marquee player Andrew Chalkley, immediately picked up from where he left off last week.

Coming off a BDCA T20 record score of 147 n.o. against Strathfieldsaye at the same ground seven days earlier, Chalkley wasted no to time making his presence felt again.

The classy left-hander, who is the BDCA's all-time leading Twenty20 run-scorer with 1367, had cruised along to 23 off 13 balls with two fours and two sixes before he got a leading edge and was caught by Mitch Kemp at cover off Trollope.

At that stage the Suns were 2-25 after 2.3 overs, paving the way for Clohesy and Neylon to team up for the best partnership of the grand final.

Both looked in good touch and with Clohesy and Neylon at the crease it appeared the Suns would have few dramas mowing down their target in quick time.

The Suns were almost halfway to their target after just five overs with the score 2-53.

The pair had later progressed the score to 72 in the ninth over and added 47 for the third wicket before Square got a much needed breakthrough when Neylon (26) was caught at long-on by Templeton off Smith.

And when Clohesy (23) was bowled off the ball of the night by Square marquee player, Carlton leg-spinner Michael Archer (1-19), the Suns were 4-74 at the halfway mark with two new batsmen, James Barri and James Vlaeminck, at the crease.

But Square's score of 107 would ultimately prove short of what was required.

While Square did pick up the wickets of Barri (13) and Vlaeminck (4) it was the experienced Taylor who sealed the victory for the Suns, winning the game with a six off Templeton (0-32) over mid-wicket off the fifth ball of the 16^th over as Strathdale-Maristians reached 6-113 to cap an unbeaten tournament.

"There's always that element of scoreboard pressure no matter what you're chasing in a big game or a final and I thought the way the boys finished it off at the end was great," Clohesy said.

"The boys there at the end didn't take any unnecessary risks."

Taylor finished 16 n.o., while Matt Wilkinson (3 n.o.) was also unbeaten.

Strathdale-Maristians has now won BDCA Twenty20 titles in 2010 (v Strathfieldsaye), 2011 (v Strathfieldsaye), 2012 (v Kangaroo Flat), 2016 (v Bendigo), 2019 (v Kangaroo Flat) and Wednesday night's triumph.

All-rounder Trollope was the grand final's leading wicket-taker with 3-30 off three overs for Square, while left-arm spinner Smith took a tidy 2-13 off four overs.

With his two wickets in the grand final Smith now has 59 BDCA T20 scalps in his career with both Golden Square and Strathfieldsaye.

Only Sam Johnston's 62 wickets with the Suns and Huntly North are more than Smith's 59 in the history of the competition that dates back to the 2008-09 season.

Wednesday night was the second Twenty20 grand final Golden Square has played in.

The Bulldogs won the inaugural Twenty20 premiership in 2008-09 when they beat Eaglehawk in what was a side that included Christie, who 15 seasons on remains part of the T20 side.

While they didn't win the grand final, this season was a significant step forward in the Twenty20 format for the Bulldogs, who finished with a 4-2 record after going 1-3 the previous season.

As for winning the man of the match accolade, Clohesy said he was surprised the honour went his way.

"Will Purcell and Jack Pysing both bowled really well, Cam (Taylor) took two wickets for not many runs and saw us over the line, so I'm not too sure about me getting it," Clohesy said.

"But I appreciate the thought of the umpires."

This season was Clohesy's first as the Suns' Twenty20 captain after taking the reins from Neylon.

"I captained a couple of games last year when Jack was unavailable, but I've really enjoyed taking over this year," Clohesy said.

"Having Waldo (coach Grant Waldron) to help has been just incredible for me with his support in letting me pave my own way for making decisions, but always being there if I need a bit of knowledge."

With the Twenty20 premiership now safely secured, it's now full steam ahead for the Suns in pursuit of the first XI flag.

Ahead of the final round of the home and away season starting Saturday Strathdale-Maristians sits in its familiar position at the top of the first XI ladder.

"We can just concentrate now on the two-day cricket starting with Strathfieldsaye this Saturday, which we're looking forward to," Clohesy said.

GOLDEN SQUARE:

OVER 1: 1-9.

OVER 2: 1-16.

OVER 3: 1-29.

OVER 4: 2-30.

OVER 5: 2-36.

OVER 6: 3-39.

OVER 7: 4-40.

OVER 8: 4-41.

OVER 9: 4-43.

OVER 10: 5-47.

OVER 11: 5-58.

OVER 12: 5-73.

OVER 13: 6-76.

OVER 14: 7-80.

OVER 15: 8-87.

OVER 16: 9-93.

OVER 17: 9-98.

OVER 18: 9-103.

OVER 19: 9-106.

OVER 20: 107.

......................................

STRATHDALE-MARISTIANS:

OVER 1: 1-11.

OVER 2: 1-18.

OVER 3: 2-32.

OVER 4: 2-43.

OVER 5: 2-53.

OVER 6: 2-58.

OVER 7: 2-63.

OVER 8: 2-70.

OVER 9: 3-72.

OVER 10: 4-74.

OVER 11: 4-77.

OVER 12: 4-83.

OVER 13: 5-85.

OVER 14: 5-93.

OVER 15: 6-68.

OVER 16: 6-113.

Daniel Clohesy (c), Andrew Chalkley, Brodie Reaper, Jack Neylon, James Barri, James Vlaeminck, Cameron Taylor, Matt Wilkinson, Will Gilmore, Will Purcell, Jack Pysing.

Record - 4-1

RESULTS:

Round 1: 9-132 lt Golden Square 6-218

Round 2: 8-160 def Eaglehawk 7-129

Round 3: 6-129 def Huntly North 7-122

Round 4: 4-119 def White Hills 115

Round 5: 6-140 def Sandhurst 8-139

TOP THREE RUNS:

James Ryan - 200

Bailey George - 108

Andrew Poppa - 69

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Kyle Humphrys - 6

James Ryan - 3

Malin Adikari - 3

Record - 3-2

RESULTS:

Round 1: 6-175 def Kangaroo Flat 9-72

Round 2: 5-160 lt Strathdale 7-171

Round 3: 6-151 lt Strathfieldsaye 4-154

Round 4: 6-104 def Golden Square 8-102

Round 5: 4-115 def Huntly North 9-111

TOP THREE RUNS:

Riley Treloar - 149

Wil Pinniger - 105

Zane Keighran - 101

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Ashley Younghusband - 7

Marcus Mangiameli - 7

Will Thrum - 5

Record - 1-4

RESULTS:

Round 1: 7-145 lt Strathdale 6-165

Round 2: 7-129 lt Bendigo 8-160

Round 3: 77 lt Golden Square 3-137

Round 4: 4-137 lt Sandhurst 7-150

Round 5: 5-129 def White Hills 9-127

TOP THREE RUNS:

Josh Williams - 207

Angus Chisholm - 108

Taj Taylor - 47

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Ethan McKnight - 5

Josh Williams - 4

Fletcher Good - 3

Record - 4-2

RESULTS:

Round 1: 6-218 def Bendigo 9-132

Round 2: 80 def Strathfieldsaye 9-79

Round 3: 3-137 def Eaglehawk 77

Round 4: 8-102 lt Bendigo United 6-104

Round 5: 5-115 def Kangaroo Flat 9-113

Grand final: 107 lt Strathdale 6-113

TOP THREE RUNS:

Kayle Thompson - 119

Chris Thewlis - 118

Scott Trollope - 80

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Liam Smith - 9

Scott Trollope - 9

Jayden Templeton - 7

Record - 1-4

RESULTS:

Round 1: 9-80 lt White Hills 4-252

Round 2: 7-127 lt Kangaroo Flat 1-131

Round 3: 7-122 lt Bendigo 6-129

Round 4: 2-130 def Strathfieldsaye 6-129

Round 5: 9-111 lt Bendigo United 4-115

TOP THREE RUNS:

Sandun Ranathunga - 99

Judd Gilchrist - 92

Lewis Stabler - 64

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Lewis Stabler - 4

Shane Gilchrist - 3

Sandun Ranathunga - 3

Record - 1-3-1

RESULTS:

Round 1: 9-72 lt Bendigo United 6-175

Round 2: 1-131 def Huntly North 7-127

Round 3: 8-100 lt Sandhurst 5-102

Round 4: 0-0 dr Strathdale 0-0

Round 5: 9-113 lt Golden Square 5-115

TOP THREE RUNS:

Dylan Klemm - 68

Matt Dwyer - 61

Chris Barber - 58

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Kenny Beith - 5

Luke Stagg - 4

Jake Klemm - 4

Record - 3-2

RESULTS:

Round 1: 7-163 def Strathfieldsaye 8-108

Round 2: 6-155 lt White Hills 7-159

Round 3: 5-102 def Kangaroo Flat 8-100

Round 4: 7-150 def Eaglehawk 4-137

Round 5: 8-139 lt Bendigo 6-140

TOP THREE RUNS:

Taylor Beard - 158

Tom Starr - 125

Ben Leed - 110

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Ben Yarwood - 9

Josh Scott - 6

Taylor Beard - 5

Record - 5-0-1

RESULTS:

Round 1: 6-165 def Eaglehawk 7-145

Round 2: 7-171 def Bendigo United 5-160

Round 3: 5-141 def White Hills 8-133

Round 4: 0-0 dr Kangaroo Flat 0-0

Round 5: 4-245 def Strathfieldsaye 9-101

Grand final: 6-113 def Golden Square 107

TOP THREE RUNS:

Andrew Chalkley - 180

Daniel Clohesy - 159

James Barri - 109

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Jack Pysing - 8

Cameron Taylor - 6

Sam Johnston - 5

Record - 1-4

RESULTS:

Round 1: 8-108 lt Sandhurst 7-163

Round 2: 9-79 lt Golden Square 80

Round 3: 4-154 def Bendigo United 6-151

Round 4: 6-129 lt Huntly North 2-130

Round 5: 9-101 lt Strathdale 4-245

TOP THREE RUNS:

Ben Devanny - 149

Chathura Damith - 77

Savith Priyan - 53

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Chathura Damith - 8

Callum Bolton - 4

Riley Tresize - 3

Record - 2-3

RESULTS:

Round 1: 4-252 def Huntly North 9-80

Round 2: 7-159 def Sandhurst 6-155

Round 3: 8-133 lt Strathdale 5-141

Round 4: 115 lt Bendigo 4-119

Round 5: 9-127 lt Eaglehawk 5-129

TOP THREE RUNS:

Brayden Stepien - 214

Ben Irvine - 116

Caleb Barras - 96

TOP THREE WICKETS:

Riley Fitzpatrick - 8

Rhys Irwin - 6

Max Shepherd - 3