The grand final clashes for Goulburn Murray Cricket’s B, C and D-grades have been locked in after a weekend loaded with finals action.
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Bamawm-Lockington United and Kyabram Fire Brigade will face off to claim the Bill Williams B-grade Shield, Moama will square off against Echuca for C-grade’s Gus Underwood Shield and Kyabram and Echuca South will do battle for the Peter Raglus D-grade Shield.
Fire Brigade punched its ticket to the B-grade big dance after a win over Echuca on Saturday and an upset win over first-place Tongala on Sunday.
Phil Carroll and Trevor Watts top-scored for the Flames on Sunday with 34 runs each against the league leader as Fire Brigade set Tongala a total of 112 to win.
Tongala was in decent shape at 3-61, but a devastating collapse saw it lose its last seven wickets for just 23 runs to finish all out for 84.
Matthew Fleming starred with the ball for the Flames, taking 6-22, while Tom Owen also picked up two wickets.
The grand final will see Fire Brigade face BLU, which qualified with a win over Stanhope.
BLU enjoyed a first-round finals bye on Saturday after finishing second, before claiming a 17-run victory over Stanhope in the preliminary final on Sunday.
Cameron Laird was BLU’s top scorer with 55 as his side made its way to 8-130 from its 40 overs.
Chasing a reachable total, Stanhope found itself in a spot of bother early at 3-27 and was always behind in the run chase.
Matthew Evans made a team-high 32, but Stanhope fell 17 runs short and was all out for 113. BLU’s Mundie took 4-19 and Rory Van de Zand claimed 3-32.
In C-grade, cross-river rivals Moama and Echuca will face off in the grand final.
Echuca reached the decider after a semi-final win over Girgarre in a rain-affected clash on Saturday, winning under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
It then caused a big upset on Sunday with a 19-run win over a Kyabram Fire Brigade side that had only lost one game all season.
Echuca batted first against the Flames and set a solid total of 161.
Opener Jake Logie was his side’s leading run scorer with 44, while Thomas Kerr and Dhwanish Patel made 30 and 28, respectively.
After a strong performance with the bat, Echuca was able to back it up in the field, knocking Fire Brigade over for 142.
Justin Elliott top-scored for the Flames with 64, while Echuca’s Zac and Daniel Hegarty each picked up three wickets.
Moama will be waiting for Echuca in the grand final after an impressive 30-run win over Stanhope.
Second-placed Moama had a bye in the first round on Saturday and came out all guns blazing in the preliminary final on Sunday.
It won the toss and elected to bat first, blasting its way to 6-180 from its 40 overs.
Ben Mason posted his sixth half-century of the season with a knock of 51, while Luke Agg made 32 and Simon Porter and Andrew McIntosh contributed 22 runs each.
Stanhope had it all to do as it faced an imposing run chase, but an opening partnership of 46 between Jacob Gillie and Wade Foley had it off to a solid start.
But a devastating spell derailed its innings, with Agg and Porter picking up two wickets each as Stanhope lost four wickets for just seven runs to sit at 4-53.
Stanhope’s Ben Condell made 51 not out, but his side could only reach 7-150 from its 40 overs as Moama advanced to the C-grade decider.
Echuca South’s D-grade side has been flying the flag for the club this season, with more wins than its A, B and C-grade teams combined.
Its strong season continued on Saturday as it advanced to the grand final with a six-wicket win over league-leader Echuca.
Echuca was sent in to bat and was all out for just 82. Ryan Smith top-scored with 21, while Stephen Miller made 16.
Michael Moritz was the pick of the South bowlers with 3-20, while Daniel Stephens and Darren Wright each took two wickets.
Moritz then starred with the bat as well, making 46 as South reached 4-83 with more than a dozen overs to spare.
South will now face a Kyabram Fire Brigade side in the grand final that is fresh off a big 81-run win over Rushworth.
The Flames batted first and fired their way to 6-149 with the help of 47 runs from Lachlan Carver and 25 from Matthew Schubach.
Fire Brigade then burned through the Rushworth top order, dismissing both openers for ducks.
Jac Barrett made a team-high 28 runs for Rushworth, but it fell well short of its target as it was all out for 68.
Chris Cleveland took 4-16 for Fire Brigade, while Steven Phillips, Simon Doolan and Ross Laurenson picked up two wickets each.
The B, C and D-grade grand finals will all be held on Saturday, with play starting at 12.30pm.
BLU will face Kyabram at Bamawm Recreation Reserve (B-grade), Moama will square off against Echuca at Tongala Recreation Reserve (C-grade) and Kyabram will meet Echuca South at Brick Alley Moama (D-grade).
Echuca and BLU will play in the John McMahon Shield A-grade grand final in a two-day clash at Moama Recreation Reserve on Saturday and Sunday.