SOME of Victoria’s best cricketers were in Horsham on Sunday trying to progress through to the next round of the Regional Big Bash competition.
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Teams from Nyah District, Heytesbury Rebels, Bendigo United and Mt Clear competed in qualifying finals at Sunnyside Oval and Horsham City Oval.
West country cricket manager Tony Caccaviello said it was good opportunity to see Twenty20 played in the area.
“We don’t see a lot of the format played in Horsham,” he said.
“The fielding standard especially was something great to watch.”
Nyah District defeated Heytsebury Rebels by three runs at Sunnyside to qualify for the semi-final later in the afternoon at Horsham City Oval.
In the days other qualifying final Mt Clear managed to hold on for an eight-run win against Bendigo United. The Bendigo team needed just 13 runs off the final over but were tied down well in the final over.
Nyah batted first in the semi-final but were unable to build any momentum with the bat against a host of Mt Clear spinners.
Captain Justin Toomey hit a quick 50 to allow the side to sneak past 100 but it did not look like anywhere near enough once Nathan Yates got going for Mt Clear in reply.
The opening batsmen hit a blistering 72 from just 40 deliveries to guide his side through to February’s conference final against Doutta Stars.
His knock included eight sixes and two fours as a target of 102 was reached in 12.1 overs.
It is the second season in a row Horsham has hosted a round of the competition which is in its 12th season.
Teams battle it out to represent one of Victoria’s 16 cricket regions in the competition after either nominating or winning their own competition.
From that point the side’s face off in quarter-finals and semi-finals to earn the right to play in their conferences final.
The winners of the two conference finals will face off at the MCG.
