Randwick Petersham Cricket Club win the 2023-24 Kingsgrove Sports T20 Competition
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | November 07, 2023
Randwick Petersham won its 5th 1st Grade Twenty20 premiership at Coogee Oval when it defeated a brave Gordon side in the Grand Final of the Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 Cup, 4-155 (18.4 overs) to 8-152 (20 overs). And while the match was played in cloudy and gloomy conditions after parts of Sydney had been deluged by up to 75mm of rain overnight, the game produced all the excitement and tension that a T20 Grand Final can do.
Batting first after winning the toss, it was high drama when Daniel Sams clean bowled the Stags skipper, Tym Crawford, with the very first ball. But it was almost 10 overs later before the hosts could claim a second wicket when Jason Ralston bowled Axel Cahlin (38 off 27 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes) for a 2-66 scoreline. Trystan Kennedy (28 off 33) went 7 runs later although a 56 runs partnership which followed, put Gordon’s nose in front. The game swung back to the Randy Petes with the return of Dan Sams to dismiss Mitchell Lole with the 6th ball of his third over. Then he took a wicket with each of the first two of his next, including top-scorer James Newton (39 from 28 with 3 sixes), to achieve a rare hat-trick! That was part of a massive collapse which saw the visitors lose 4-3 and slump from 3-129 to 7-132 in 6 balls. And while a wicket and 14 runs came from the last over, including a 6 from the final ball, the 20 overs tally of 8-152 finished up quite a competitive score for a Grand Final. Sams finished with 4-30 off 4 overs while Angus McTaggart again did well with 1-22 off 4 as did Connor O’Riordan, 1-16 off 2 and Jason Ralston with 1-36 off 4.
In reply, Jack Wood and Anthony Sams put on 17 in the first 2 overs. But Sams was caught half-way through the third for 11 and a 1-19 scoreline. Alex Ross joined Wood, but after tonking a no-ball free-hit over 100 metres into nearby traffic, Wood was out for 25 off 19. That brought Dan Sams and Ross together and over the following 8 overs, they showed why they are two of the most experienced T20 cricketers in Australia. They put on 65 runs with some stylish strokeplay and precision running to get the score to 3-107, when Sams was bowled for 42 off 30 with 2 fours and 3 sixes. Jake Egan joined the party and smashed his second ball high into Alfreda Street to keep the run-rate on track. In the 16th over, Ross hit successive sixes but was caught attempting a third, for 43 off 33. With 20 runs needed off 24 balls, Egan clubbed another into the street, but it was fittingly, Riley Ayre, who had captained the side so well throughout the tournament, to pull a short ball for four and raise his arms in victory as the ball raced to the boundary for the winning runs. Randwick Petersham were premiers for the 5th time in the 16 years of the competition!
It was no surprise that Daniel Sams, with 42 runs with the bat and 4-30 with the ball, including a hat-trick, was named Player of the Grand Final. It should also be mentioned that this was Daniel’s fourth Grand Final and fourth Twenty20 Cup Premiership with the club. That said, special congratulations are extended to his older brother Anthony, who is the only player to have participated in all 5 successful Grand Finals for the club in this competition.
Today’s win was also the 5th successive season Randwick Petersham has won a NSW Premier Cricket premiership having taken out the Belvidere Cup, the Limited Overs Cup, the Poidevin-Gray Shield and now two Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 cups since 2019-20.
Kingsgrove Sports owner Harry Solomons with Randwick Petersham captain Riley Ayre
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club Management - John Stewart, Mike Whitney, Bill Anderson, Michael Haire
