Newtown to play CYMS in MoneyQuest Megahit semi-final

Newtown will battle CYMS in Friday's do-or-die contest, with the winner advancing to play RSL-Colts in this season's Megahit grand final.

The Tigers go into the match having batted first in all four of their previous short-form games this season.

Russo might joke it's down to "good captaincy" at the toss, but he's all too aware putting a score on the board first is a real benefit for his aggressive batting lineup.

Newtown's lowest T20 score of the season up to this point is a respectable 9/135 and they've won three of the four matches played.

"We prefer batting first to get that scoreboard pressure on," Russo said.

"But we have lost the toss and bowled first a few times (in 40-over games) and we've been able to bowl sides out, which is pleasant.

"We'll back ourselves in any situation."

READ ALSO:

- Quicks and Keen's class decide a derby battle filled with 'positive banter'

- WHITNEY WRAP: Newtown holds on in a classic while Colts closes the gap

- NSW Country star already buying into hard work and Magpies rivalry at Parkes

The improved depth in the Newtown first grade squad has already been spoken about at length this season, but it's really shone in the short form of the game.

Through the four Twenty20 matches played - the earlier match against CYMS in November was washed out - seven different players have chipped in with scores of at least 30.

Russo and Skinner brothers Mat and Steve are among them but so are newcomers to the team like Syed Ali Raza, Theme Rawat, Dalton Medcalf, and Rajat Rai.

It's a similar story when it comes to the bowing, with six different players taking at least two wickets in a match.

"It's good to know that no matter who you turn to, they can do a job," Russo said.

"We've had newer blokes like Will Palmer and Shubham Sharma step up in the past year and they do a job.

"We keep just keep it simple. With the bat, it's awesome to see so many people contributing at different times and playing different roles.

"We talk about it at the start of each game and they're starting to really excel."

When it comes to CYMS, for all their depth in quality there's some familiar faces who have stood out.

Brock Larance and Ben Patterson have led the way with the bat, being two of three batsmen to make scores of more than 20 twice, while the latter is one of only four bowlers to take at least two wickets in a game.

"They're a very. very classy outfit," Russo said of the Cougars.

"There's the two big ones in Brock and Patto so if we can limit their impact we'll go a long way to winning and booking ourselves a place in the grand final."

The battle of the two batting lineups could be something to behold on Friday night as both are capable of belting the ball out of the park.

"We're a very aggressive team. We go out there and try to hit sixes all the time and that can be our downfall a lot of the time," Russo laughed, before speaking about what a win would mean for the rest of the RSL-Whitney Cup season.

"It would be huge. We know we can match it with the best teams. We beat Colts already and we beat CYMS when they weren't at their best but it was still comforting to beat them.

"We've beaten Macquarie too so knowing we can beat them gives us confidence going into tomorrow (Friday) and going into finals time."

Friday's semi-final starts at 6.30pm.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: