After hopping between dates, Cricket Shepparton, Waaia and Mooroopna have finally settled on Thursday for the Higher-grade T20 final.
The two sides qualified for the grand final after winning their respective semi-finals last year on December 19.
Waaia’s route to the decider has been through an 81-run triumph over Numurkah, a six-wicket win over Kyabram and a seven-run victory against Central Park-St Brendan’s.
Mooroopna was blessed with a bye in the first round, before securing a 25-run victory over Karramomus and a 26-run win against Katandra.
Bombers captain Mitch Cleeland has starred for his side throughout the T20 competition, scoring a tournament high of 137 runs at an average of 68.5.
Cleeland is hoping a victory on Thursday can create a snowball effect in terms of trophies heading into the Haisman Shield finals.
“It’s probably not something we expected to get that far in, to be honest – it was a little bit of an afterthought,” Cleeland said.
“But when you get there, as is every game, you’re in it to win it and that’ll be the main aim for us on Thursday.
“It’s exciting and hopefully we can get that first little bit of silverware.
“Hopefully, it’ll be the first of another few bits that we can get.”
Big-name Waaia recruit Liam Evans has struggled with the bat this summer, but he has starred with ball in hand and leads the competition for wickets taken with eight at an average of 8.25.
Mooroopna captain Henry Barrow leads his side for wickets (six), while Will Hale has been the team's most damaging with the bat (104 runs at an average of 52).
Barrow said if his side could perform with bat, ball and in the field, there was no reason why it couldn’t beat the Bombers.
“We earmarked the competition early on in the season,” Barrow said.
“With us having a bit of a rebuild year it is a good opportunity to try and go deep into a tournament.
“It is fantastic to be playing in the final.
“We have a bit of a different team, but we have probably had the better of (Waaia) in the past couple of years.”
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