Western Spirit has bowed out at the penultimate stage of the male under-18 Cricket Victoria State Championships.
The Spirit lost to the Inner East Emus in a rain-interrupted semi-final by six wickets under the Duckworth/Lewis system at the Harry Trott Oval on Friday.
The Emus have advanced to the grand final, where they will play Outer East Eagles next month.
Western Spirit finished the group phase in second place with two wins and a loss from their three games.
The Spirit crushed South East Bayside in the qualifying final by 98 runs.
It set up a mouth-watering do-or-die clash with the Emus, but the weather spoiled a good game.
The Spirit could only muster 105 in 38.1 overs with star batsman Dylan Brasher top-scoring with 40.
Brasher, a Footscray player, had a magnificent tournament, scoring 304 runs at an average of 76, including a century against the North West Wizards.
The Emus only needed 80 to win and they got the score with six wickets to spare.
Declan O’Brien was the pick of the Spirit bowlers in the semi-final with 2-8 off three overs.
Spirit’s stand-out bowler across the tournament was Werribee young gun Jack Watt, who finished with nine wickets at 11.2.
The female under-18 state championships wrapped up in December with the Western Spirit finishing the campaign with a 3-3 record.
The dominant batters for the Spirit were Scarlett Saxon-Jones and Taylah Steadman.
Saxon-Jones notched two half centuries for the Spirit to finish with 145 runs at 36.3, while Steadman left her best till last with 59 not out against Northern Rivers to take her tally to 125 at 31.3.
It was a fairly even contribution from the Spirit bowlers, but Lauren McGrath led the way with seven wickets at 16.7.
The under-18 female grand final will be contested between Inner South East and South East Country.
