Kealba-Green Gully has answered its critics in the best possible way – a seven-wicket thumping of finals contenders Burnside Springs United in the NWMCA Luscombe Shield on Saturday.
The Cougars have been hearing whispers of their vulnerability after a slow start to the season, but the two-time defending champions are back on track after consecutive wins.
“We wanted to send a bit of a message,” Cougars’ captain Evan Long said.
“People are thinking that we’re a bit vulnerable, so we wanted to be back to the Kealba of old, so to speak.
“We were ready to fire.”
Kealba-Green Gully was swift in disposing of Burnside Springs.
The Cougars rolled United for a meagre 73 in 33.1 overs.
It was the kind of clinical display the competition has come to know from the Cougars.
“We certainly put an emphasis on our fielding and bowling,” Long said.
“We were holding on to the half chances, creating the run-outs and bowling tight lines, all those sorts of things.”
Kealba-Green Gully was able to spread the wickets around.
Long led the way with 3-12 off eight overs, but there were also two each to Roshan Laksiri and Jarrod Catania.
“Even the guys who didn’t take a wicket bowled really economically, only going for two an over at the most,” Long said.
“It was a team effort where we all played our role and got the job done.”
Kealba-Green Gully wasted no time chasing down the runs.
The Cougars reached the target in just 19.2 overs for early finish.
It was not all smooth sailing for the Cougars though – a couple of early hiccups had them at 2-6, but Long (30no) and Laksiri (24) steadied the ship. All of a sudden, the three-peat bid is back on track for Kealba-Green Gully.
The Cougars will go in as hot favourites when they face Aberfeldie St John’s in a one-day game at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday.
“We beat them pretty convincingly in the two-dayer that we played earlier in the year, but with a one-dayer, one week you might be up and about, the next week you’re on your knees again, so we’re certainly not going to take it lightly,” Long said.
“With the momentum that we got today, we’re going to push to keep it going and make sure that we go into the Christmas break full of confidence.”
