By Elliot Stevenson
Kingborough has secured a home Kookaburra Cup semi-final with a pair of victories over Clarence and North Hobart in a thrilling weekend of CTPL cricket.
After comfortably defeated Clarence by six wickets on Saturday, the Knights edged across the line against North Hobart on Sunday.
Their second victory included a barnstorming century from Zac Curtain (141 off 113 balls), a knock which Kingborough coach Tom Martyn described as “really impressive.”
“He's probably the most in-form player in the comp and he’s winning games of cricket for us, which is really pleasing.” he said.
“He’s putting his name up there to play at higher levels, which is really pleasing and what we're about as well.”
Curtain leads the competition with a whopping 406 runs this season at an average of 135.33 and is to play a major role in Kingborough’s Kookaburra Cup finals campaign.
It was not an easy victory for the Knights on Sunday, with North Hobart posting 7-305 as a target for Martyn’s side to chase.
Curtain and captain Dylan Hay (56 off 74 balls) managed to whittle down much of the Demons total, before Kingborough’s tail put the match to bed with eight balls remaining.
“We've just kept finding ways to win,” Martyn said. “Zac [Curtain] and Dylan [Hay] have been excellent, and our bowling group have had guys step up and do a really good job.”
Jack Ross is an example of a Knights bowler who has stepped up during the injury absences of Alex Vincent and Martyn himself.
The off spinner bowled 10 overs in each of the weekend’s games, taking six wickets after having bolted into bowling contention across recent months.
“Jack's form has been great with the ball,” Martyn said. “It's something we picked up on the backend of last year that he bowled some handy off spin in the nets.”
“It's worked really well, him and Niv [Radhakrishnan] and James [Scott] f bowling a large chunk of our overs and bowling spin, so it's been good.”
The Knights will now turn their attention to the beginning of the two-day season, before refocusing on a Kookaburra Cup semi-final next Sunday against Clarence.
Martyn says the switch between formats won’t change his side’s approach to both games.
“We'll try not to overcomplicate it too much,” he said. “The guys know that they have to be better for longer periods of time now.”
“Understanding the game and the scenarios will be slightly more drawn out.”
Clarence will be seeking revenge in the semi-final as a rematch with Kingborough looms.
The Roos defeated Glenorchy by 69-runs on Sunday to book their ticket to the finals, with skipper Justin Galeotti (101 not out off 151 balls) made his second big score of the weekend.
Galeotti was unbeaten on 94 in Saturday’s loss to Kingborough and sits just eight runs behind Zac Curtain on the competition leaderboard.
A returning Sam Rainbird (3/25 off 6 overs) and Connor O’Brien (3/32 off 8.4 overs) did the damage for the Roos with the ball against Glenorchy.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Magpies across the weekend, however, as they downed the winless South Hobart-Sandy Bay on Saturday.
Harry Thomson (93 not out off 114 balls) helped the Sharks to 9-260, before Glenorchy and Vishwa Deemantha (88 off 86 balls) responded emphatically, winning by five wickets.
The Magpies finished outside the top four in the Kookaburra Cup but will take momentum into the beginning of the two-day competition.
Lindisfarne fell short on Saturday to give North Hobart its first win of the season but managed to qualify for the Kookaburra Cup finals regardless, finishing fourth.
Charlie Wakim continued his stellar form, blasting 117 from 126 deliveries, scoring over half of his side’s 229.
North Hobart cruised to a six-wicket victory through a strong opening partnership from Nick Davis (57 off 36 balls) and Keshana Fonseka (46 off 49 balls), as well as Aiden Bariol’s unbeaten 73 off 76 balls.
The Greater Northern Raiders powered to a Kookaburra Cup minor premiership with victories over University and New Town.
The Raiders opened their weekend with a modest 9-189 against Uni, but a vicious pace barrage from Billy Stanlake (3/15 off 7 overs) and Aidan O’Connor (3/22 off 5 overs) dismissed the hosts for just 93.
Alistair Taylor’s side strutted its stuff with the bat much more on Sunday, with Cooper Anthes (92 off 121 balls) falling agonisingly short of a second century of the season, and Aidan O’Connor (65 off 94 balls) playing a supporting role.
The Raiders’ bowlers continued to impress, this time through Sam Omahony (3/17 off 5 overs) and off spinner Jack Crane (3/35 off 4 overs).
University salvaged some pride as it defeated South Hobart-Sandy Bay on Sunday, with captain Ruwantha Kellapotha hitting 70 not out off 58 balls to steer the Lions home.
In the women’s competition, Clarence defeated Kingborough twice at the Twin Ovals to take pole position in the CTPL T20 ladder.
The Roos were relatively dominant across both games, with Tabatha Saville (43 off 47 balls) leading the way on Sunday morning, before Michaela Kirk (77 not out off 54 balls) dismantled Kingborough’s bowling attack in the afternoon.
After posting 3-147 in the opening match, Clarence restricted the hosts to 8-91 off 20 overs, before winning by a comfortable nine wickets in the second game.
The Greater Northern Raiders took full points from a double-header against North Hobart and New Town at UTAS Stadium on Sunday, bouncing back from a pair of losses a week earlier.
Caitlin Mair began the day strongly for North Hobart, hitting 65 not out off 51 balls to take her side to 3-133 against the Raiders.
In response, last season’s Kim Fazackerley Medallist Emma Manix-Geeves belted 66 off 58 balls as Greater Northern won by six wickets with an over to spare.
Buoyed by the win, the Raiders dismantled New Town for 9-97 through Courtney Sippel (3/17 off 4 overs) and Ruth Johnston (3/12 off 4 overs).
It then took Manix-Geeves (40 off 44 balls) and the remainder of the Raiders just 13.5 overs to chase down their target, winning by eight wickets.