Rochy goes for glory as total too much for simmering Flames

Rochester Recreation Reserve has been known to be a fairly good batting track this season, with sides tallying high totals throughout.

Things looked fairly steady for the host with Brandon Byrne and Sean Williams opening the batting and steering their side through the first 12 overs unscathed.

An aggressive Williams (11) got ahead of himself, skying an attempted pull shot off Tom Owens’ bowling which landed safely in the hands of Kaine Herbert.

Byrne continued on, carving out a solid platform for his side with first drop Vibhor Yadav following.

They batted together for more than 20 overs, taking their side to the verge of 100 on the board before Byrne (37) hit one into the covers which was swallowed by Rob Salter.

Yadav continued ticking the scoreboard over and raised his bat for a vital half-century as fresh batter Oliver Williams settled into his innings.

It took the young number four nearly 50 balls to hit his first boundary and he was dismissed just five balls later when he was caught behind off Jackson Barnett for 14.

Yadav (57) followed Williams back to the shed a couple of overs later when he was caught nicking off to Salter.

This period of play saw Rochy fall into a spot of bother as a mix-up between the wickets between Dylan Cuttriss and Kuldeep Lal (6) brought the latter undone.

Cuttriss was able to notch an almost run-a-ball 21 before he too was dismissed just after the 60th over, while Adam Ward was striking at 100 down the other end.

Ward kept on blazing a trail and he combined well with captain Angus Martin, with the pair taking Rochy past 200.

Seeing an opening to continue piling on runs, Ward sailed to a swashbuckling half-century, bringing up the milestone with a six.

But he got too greedy as the next ball was another aerial shot caught on the cow corner boundary by Herbert.

With 17 overs remaining in its innings, Rochy managed to squeeze a good amount of productivity from its remaining batters.

Martin had a nice cameo of 30 before Jake Wright (19) and Jesse Cuttriss (14) put the pedal to the metal and brought the innings to a close.

Rochester was bowled out two balls before its 80 overs for 276.

On Sunday, Fire Brigade took up the bat requiring almost its best batting effort to book a ticket to the grand final.

The chase began well with Miller Griffiths and Tim Nelson making starts and getting the team past 50 with little issue.

But things took a turn after the 20th over when Griffiths (28) was caught behind by a diving Lal and Nelson (27) spooned one straight to mid-on.

Bohden Learmonth at number three picked up where the openers left off and got going with Shannon Fleming providing assistance.

The pair ground it out until the 41st over when Fleming (13), trying to move through the gears, whipped one off his pads and into the hands of Sean Williams.

In cricket, one wicket usually brings two and such was the case of Learmonth (27), who was caught driving one down the ground.

It was a tricky period of play for the Flames following Learmonth’s departure as Brett Andison (20), Herbert (14) and Salter (6) fell in the next 15 overs, none of them able to convert on positive starts.

With 20 overs to go in the innings and still 130 required, it would have take a mammoth effort from the Flames’ tail to get it done.

Cohan Hooper (18) and Riley Carver (21) gave it a good crack, but the bowling of Jesse Cuttriss claimed both and snuffed out the small spark of hope.

The last pair standing, Tom Owen and Jackson Barnett, fought hard, but there were too many runs left to get with time and chances running out.

Barnett was ultimately bowled for a single run, bringing the Flames’ chase to a close 91 runs short.

With Moama also falling short in its chase, ladder-leader Rochester has a date with three-time reigning premier Echuca to decide this season’s winner.