The NSW Primary School Sports Association Boys’ Championship grand final outfits are decided, Sydney West and Combined Independent Schools (CIS) will square-off at Wade Park on Thursday for the right to be declared 2017 champions.
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The two sides waltzed through the three preliminary rounds to finish unbeaten but, even though it matters little unless it rains, Sydney West edged CIS out for top spot thanks to its wildly impressive quotient of almost 10.
Sydney West, a seven-time champion, will be looking for its first championship since its 2012 triumph while CIS’ last – and only – win, came way back in 2002. The two sides have both built on last year’s strong showings, they finished seventh and fourth respectively in 2016.
Both sides flourished under pressure in Wednesday’s must-win third round, essentially the semi-finals of the seeded draw, defeating the only two other undefeated sides in Polding and Hunter, respectively.
Sydney West’s eight-wicket win over Polding came on the back of another stunning showing with the ball from Krish Thakur.
He took 3-4 as Sydney West skittled Polding for just 51, taking his wicket tally to nine for the carnival. He’s the carnival’s leading wicket-taker so far, his scalps have come at an incredible average of 1.88 too.
Max Laing (3-5) was strong as well, before Thakur backed his effort up with the bat. He top scored with 33 not out in the chase, Sydney West needing just 16 overs to run the meagre total down.
Brock Campbell, who banged out tons on day one and two, was 2 not out at the other end.
CIS’ victory over Hunter was even more dominant, in terms of the chase anyway.
Sidhant Singh (2-3) and Dylan Melvey (2-9) took multiple wickets as Hunter managed just 74, Sam Jones scoring 38 of those.
Cameron Tunks (25) and James Moore (20 not out) went at more than a run a ball in the chase, Anthony Bartlett (22) also chipped in as CIS secured the win in just 13.3 overs.
Mackillop, Hunter, Polding, Riverina and Sydney East all finished with two victories from three games, and will play off for third through seventh on Thursday.
The host, Western, scored its first victory of the tournament too, signalling a potentially strong finish in Thursday’s play-off.
The red and greens claimed a comfortable six-wicket win over North West. The Jordan Moran-coached hosts restricted North West to 6-126, before Parkes duo Ryan Dunford and Hunter Hawke added an unbeaten, fifth wicket partnership of 49 to secure the win.
Dunford was Western’s best with the ball too, he took 2-19 opening the bowling before working his way to a controlled 46 not out.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
