Stanhope scrambled home by two wickets against Rushworth in a low-scoring thriller at Stanhope.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, Rushworth was dismissed for 121 in 39.1 overs by Stanhope, which used six bowlers.
Shannon Jarrett with 3-13 off seven overs and Justin Slater with 2-28 off eight overs were Stanhope’s most productive bowlers.
Jonathan Pearson’s half-century and 20 from Luke Twynstra proved vital knocks for Stanhope in the run chase. It lost eight wickets in chasing down Rushworth’s moderate score in 36 overs.
Josh Francis with 35, Ahmad Karamat (16) and Michael Enrico (15) provided the bulk of Rushworth’s score.
Echuca’s score of 150 was sufficient to deliver it a win and a grand final spot in its clash with Kyabram Fire Brigade.
Skipper Rikki Busch with 4-39 and two wickets each from Shaun Doolan and Jarrod Chapman gave the Brigade a chance, but its batsmen weren’t quite up to the challenge.
Skipper Trevor Watt tried hard to hold the Flames’ innings together with a fighting 45, but the most support he received was from Busch with 22 and opener Oscar Carver (18) as their team came up 17 runs short.
In Echuca’s innings Nick Dolan’s 40 was the top contribution.
In the Murray B-grade semi-finals, Cooma and Leitchville-Gunbower advanced to the season decider with wins over Rochester and Tongala, respectively.
Cooma’s frontline batsmen led by Ethan Palma-Ludeman with an unbeaten 35, Russ Napier (31), opener Liam Scopelliti (30) and Cooper Fawcett (28) helped post a competitive 9-190.
In reply, the Cooma attack restricted Rochester to 8-97 with James Hipwell’s unbeaten 42 the top contribution.
Cooma bowlers Jack Norris, Samuel Barbagallo and Xavier Fawcett kept the pressure on, each claiming two wickets for Cooma.
Opener Tom Colvin’s knock of 63 proved a match winner in Leitchville Gunbower’s narrow win over Tongala.
Batting first, LG assembled 165 and in the run chase Tongala came up two runs short with two wickets in hand.
Braith Northausen’s knock of 57 with seven fours almost stole the game for Tongala.
Gus Underwood C-grade Shield
Fire Brigade won a grand final berth against BLU with a one-wicket win over Echuca in their semi-final at Echuca South.
The Flames’ last two batsmen, Ben Chapman and Dan Watt, were at the crease when their side hit the front with 4.1 overs remaining.
Skipper Sam Vick top scored for the Flames with 37 off 42 balls while tailenders Jonty Sefton, Ben Chapman and Dan Mott absorbed the pressure to clinch a spot in the season decider for their team.
Peter Raglus D-grade Shield
Neighbours Rushworth and Stanhope will meet at Moama this Saturday to decide the Peter Raglus D-grade Shield premier.
Rushworth staged a batting revival to account for Echuca while Stanhope had a morale-boosting win over Tongala in their semi-finals at the weekend.
Chasing Echuca’s 8-113, Rushworth was 5-21 at one stage and then 7-89 but late knocks from Declan Baldwin (27), Brodie Shepherd (20) and Peter Francis (18 not out) tipped the game in Rushworth’s favour.
In Echuca’s innings — highlighted by an unbeaten half-century from Taj Maddox — Heath Oden, Bradie Chillingsworth and Charlie McLean each took two wickets for Rushworth.
Stanhope’s batsmen were led by Tom Hepburn and Lachlan West with half-centuries, and an unbeaten 36 from Adam Braithwaite helped build a winning score of 5-215 against Tongala.
In reply, Tongala could muster only 119 with Stanhope’s attack containing multiple wicket takers in Cooper and Jayke Fisher, Lachlan West, Adam Braithwaite and Lachlan Joyce.
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