T20 Final Preview – Wednesday 28th January AUCC Premier Men v

T20 Final Preview – Wednesday 28th January
AUCC Premier Men v Eden Roskill – Keith Hay Park, 5.30pm
The first silverware of the season is up for grabs tomorrow evening when our
Premier Men`s side take on Eden Roskill in the T20 Plate Final at Keith Hay Park.
Varsity`s road to the final began with a tough encounter against East Coast Bays
at Colin Maiden Park two weeks ago. Bays are perennial contenders in all three
formats but our boys proved too strong as half centuries from Barrington
Rowland and Aditya Dhadwal propelled Varsity to a total of 169/4 to which the
visitors could only reply with 138 as Anthony Ireland and Vishi Jeet each claimed
three wickets.
Ireland and Jeet were in the wickets again in the semi-finals against Grafton
United. Varsity`s overseas pro was one of the leading wicket takers in the English
domestic T20 competition last year and he showed why with an impressive haul
of 4/22, while Auckland `A` spinner Jeet claimed 3/12 as Grafton were dismissed
for 101.
Despite falling to 61/5 Varsity never looked in danger chasing the score and
unbeaten 35 from just 29 balls from Richard Sillars helped secure a five-wicket
victory and a spot in the final.
Tomorrow`s hosts have struggled for form in both the one and two-day
competitions this season but comfortable victories over North Shore and
Hibiscus Coast ensured them a home T20 final.
Roskill strength lies in their bowling attack which is led by Azhar Abbas, a former
first class cricketer, who is the premier grade`s second leading wicket taker this
season and Auckland `A` seamer Brett Randell.
While Roskill`s weak link is arguably their batting they did amass over 300 on
Saturday afternoon on day one of their two-day match with Waitakere City and
have an experienced T20 International player in Andrew Mansale at the top of
the order who captain`s the Vanuatu National team in limited over competitions
across the world.
Varsity skipper Vamshi Puppala has named a strong side for the encounter with
Josh Fisher and Finn Allen coming into the side after returning from successful
National Tournament campaigns in Auckland`s U19 & 17 sides respectively.
Play gets underway at 5.30pm and the squad would appreciate all support in
their quest to secure the first trophy of the season.
Road to the Final:
Quarter-final
AUCC Premier Men 169/4 (B Rowland 69, Adi Dhadwal 58) defeated East
Coast Bays 138 (A Ireland 3/27, V Jeet 3/32, R Sillars 2/18) by 31 runs.
Full Scorecard:
https://www.crichq.com/#matches/214848/1st_innings
Semi-final
Grafton United 101 (A Ireland 4/22, V Jeet 3/12) lost to AUCC Premier Men
102/5 (R Sillars 35no, B Rowland 21) by five wickets.
Full Scorecard:
https://www.crichq.com/#matches/217060/1st_innings
AUCC T20 Final Team:
Barrington Rowland
Beau Dench (wk)
Aditya Dhadwal
Vamshi Puppala ©
Finn Allen
Richard Sillars
Vishi Jeet
Josh Fisher
Vedant Zaveri
Anthony Ireland
Warren Barnes
Rishikesh Umasuthan (12th man)