April 1, 2022
Murgon Cricket Club secured a double grand final victory last Saturday … after downing Wooroolin Vikings in the South Burnett contest, they defeated Wooroolin Warriors in the Gympie A Grade competition.
Murgon Crusaders defeated Warriors by just seven runs in the hard-fought final of the Gympie Two-Day Shield – played over three days by agreement.
The two South Burnett teams had dominated the competition, finishing well ahead of the four Gympie teams on the ladder.
The Grand Final got under way on March 19-20 at Lyle Vidler Oval in Kingaroy, with the final day of play on March 26.
Wooroolin Warriors won the toss and sent Murgon Crusaders in to bat.
Murgon Crusaders were all out for 167 in their first innings, with Ashley Sippel (58) and Nathan Roderick (34) top scoring.
Kieran Askin (5/63 off 20 overs), Jack Hourn (2/19 off eight) and Michael Wostear (2/24 off 10) took the wickets.
Warriors (all out 229) overhauled Murgon’s target and were 62 runs ahead at the close of their first innings.
Chris Curtis (61 not out) and Hayden Wieck (34) were the top scorers.
Nicholas Sanewski (3/60 off 14 overs) and Tony Dugdell (3/72 off 26) had the best bowling figures for Murgon.
At the resumption of play on Saturday, Murgon were 2/115 in their second innings with Ashley Sippel (33 not out) and Brenton Polzin (64 not out).
The Crusaders batted on strongly, declaring at 8/240.
Top scorers were Polzin (71), Sippel (66) and Jason Webber (39).
Michael Wostear (3/57 off 18 overs) and Chris Bunker (2/30 off seven) took the bulk of the wickets for Wooroolin.
Warriors began their chase confidently but fell just short, all out for 171.
Reginald Wenham made 64 runs before he was bowled by Ashley Sippel.
Matthew Dugdell (33), Michael Wostear (25) and Chris Curtis (22) also added very valuable runs.
Tony Dugdell (4/56 off 19 overs) and Kurt McArthur (2/16 off seven) were Murgon’s top bowlers.
Footnote: The Gympie competition has three legs – a 40-over series, a T20 Cup and a Two-Day Shield. In the two other Gympie A Grade competitions, played earlier in the season, Wooroolin defeated Murgon in the 40 Over competition and Gympie Colts in the T20 Cup.
