Rivers claim Dowling Shield in thrilling Final

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Northern Rivers posted 6-148 from their 35 overs, with Andrew Poppa (35), James Vlaeminck (34), Zane Keighran (29) and James Ryan (27) the main contributors with the bat.

Mitchell Perry (2-23) and Jacob Quigley (2-31) were the best performed Outer East bowlers, while two run outs also showed the Eagles’ competence in the field.

Outer East’s run chase got off to a shaky start losing two early wickets, before a middle order collapse of 5-32 delivered a body blow to their title hopes.

Daniel Thompson and Liam Dunning both made 24, but no Eagles batsman was really able to press on to a match-winning score as they fell short on 8-136.

Jayden Armstrong was Northern Rivers’ best bowler with 3-20, with Jordan Cleeland (2-14), Harry Tonks (1-24) and Sean O’Farrell (1-26) also taking wickets.

Andrew Poppa was named Player of the Match for his 35 with the bat and four catches behind the stumps.

There was a lot to like from batsman and bowlers alike throughout the tournament, with promising performances from players in both disciplines.

Metropolitan Inner South East’s Daniel Ingleton was the top run-scorer of the championships with 192 runs at an average of 48 and with a top score of 75.

Mackenzie Harvey from Metropolitan South East Bayside compiled 187 runs averaging 46.75 with a top score of 79*, while Northern Falcons’ Connor Rutland finished with 179 runs at 44.75 and a high score of 97.

Jonathan Leadbeater (Metro South East Bayside), Max Cairns (South East Country) and Jayden Armstrong (Northern Rivers) were the leading wicket-takers with 10 wickets each.

Leadbeater’s best performance of 3-4 came against Barwon, Cairns collected his best figures of 5-48 against Metro Outer East and Armstrong grabbed 3-13 against Central Highlands.

Connor Rutland was named player of the tournament for his efforts with the bat for the Northern Falcons.