Young century leads Emus to Dowling Shield victory

Led by a superb century from the Player of the Final, Andrew Young, the Emus batted first and compiled a solid total of 221 from their 50 overs.

A 51-run partnership for the second wicket between Young and Sam Milne (28) set the tone for the Emus, before a middle-order collapse saw them suddenly slump to 6-107.

Young was going nowhere however, as he held up an end while he waited for someone to stay at the crease with him.

Jonathan Catania was the one for the job, taking on the responsibility of the rescue mission after more recognised batsmen like Nathan Boucher (2) and Jonathan Merlo (9) had rare failures.

The pair put on 89 runs for the seventh as they dug the Emus out of a tough position while also lifting the run rate.
Catania’s dismissal for 36 in the 49th over didn’t hinder Young’s progress.

Unbeaten on 94, he smashed a six to bring up his hundred in one brutal blow.

He then sent the next two balls for six as well, before losing his wicket the following delivery for 112 in an eventful over that saw Charles McCartin take 2-19.

This valuable late-innings hitting from Young took the Emus’ score above and beyond 200, with the team finally bowled out off the last ball of the innings for 221.

McCartin was the only multiple wicket taker for the Rockets, finishing with 2-42 (9).

In reply, the Rockets started slowly, but for the most part looked like they were at least a slim chance to win.

Dylan Slater (28), Jordan Rossi (32) and Logan Taylor (27) all did well to establish themselves at the crease and guide the Rockets to a promising position of 3-106 during the middle overs.

With the required run rate gradually getting out of hand however, Rossi, Taylor and Jarrod Walters (0) all fell in quick succession as the Emus built the pressure in the field.

At 6-109, the Rockets found themselves in a very similar position to that of the Emus during their innings.

The difference was, the Rockets didn’t have an established batsman at the crease.

Mitchell Diamond (35) came in and did his job at one end, but the lack of a ‘Young-like’ innings at the other end proved costly.

The tail was exposed at a point when the run rate was a huge ask – especially for lower-order batsmen.

Diamond ran out of partners before losing his own wicket when the match was mathematically out of reach.

Charles Simondson (2-23), Brad Moritz (2-24) and Daniel Duncan (2-31) did the majority of the damage with the ball before Rocket Jack Hodgson (6) was run out in the final over of the match.

The Rockets were all out for 174 with the Emus taking the championship win.

Despite falling 48 runs short of a Dowling Shield triumph, the Rockets can take home great pride in their efforts from the final as well as throughout the tournament.

Rossi and Diamond were the sixth and seventh highest scoring batsmen for the championships, finishing with 234 and 226 runs respectively.

Diamond also took nine wickets with the ball, while McCartin was the leading wicket taker with 10.

For the Emus, they consistently performed well as a team, with different players stepping up on different occasions.

Ultimately, this was the dominant factor in their success.

In terms of individual achievements, Nathan Boucher was awarded the Player of the Series after completing the tournament as the leading run scorer with 307 at an incredible average of 153.5 – he was dismissed just twice.

Young (278 runs at 46.3) and Milne (249 runs at 49.8) also played significant parts with the bat throughout the championships.

With the ball, the Emus had a good spread of wicket takers, with Simondson and Duncan finishing with seven wickets each, while Boucher, Moritz and Seamus Bolton took six.

Congratulations to the Emus on a fantastic result, and well done to everyone involved in the entire Dowling Shield for 2015.