Deer Park is through to a third straight top flight grand final and its hopes of back-to-back Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division premierships is alive.
The Lions showed their strengths with the bat, to earn a shot at Yarraville Club in the grand final the next two weekends.
Lions star Aaron Ayre said being around the club this season it was no surprise to see them through to the final game of the season again.
“The atmosphere around the club is really good,” he said. “The way we train and the people around the club make it really easy to front up.
“When you’re happy at home, you’re happy at cricket. The boys are looking forward to it.”
The Storm batted first on Saturday and after losing a couple of early wickets, seemed destined for a big score.
Skipper Anthony Alleyne was the key in the innings, making 133 to help guide his side past 200.
The Storm’s progress halted late in the piece as it finished day one at 9-291.
Ayre said they were happy to have kept the Storm to that total.
“We sort of spoke on Saturday night that we’d have to have a really bad day not to get the runs,” he said.
“The pitch was flat. We bowled well through the middle overs and the back end. We thought they could have had more on the board, so we were pretty happy.
Sanka Ramesh Abeyruwan provided good support to Alleyne, making 57 for the Storm.
Lachlan Fitzgerald took 5-51 for the Storm, while Aaron Shellie took two wickets.
The wicket stayed flat like the Lions were after and Ayre and Daniel Sartori both made the most of it on Sunday.
The pair put the Lions in a good position and they got the runs with more than 15 overs remaining.
The Lions finished 3-292.
Sartori finished 99 not out, while Ayre was caught on 97.
“Wins are more important than individual achievements,” Ayre said. “We said that if we were to win we would need to have someone make 100.
“We had no one make 100, but had some good contributions.”
Ayre is play off in his first grand final for the Lions, having made the switch across in the off season.
He said the change had been really good and his kids loved coming up to the club.
The Lions will face Yarraville Club in the grand final, with the Clubbers beating Airport West St Christophers in the other semi final.
Between the teams, they’ve won the past two grand finals.
Ayre said it would be a good challenge.
“They have put together a good cricket team,” he said. “I know a lot of them and I’m looking forward to it.
“Both clubs have a lot of respect for each other and it will be a hard fought battle.
“Hopefully the guys I know will play well and we can be a bit better.”
