![Margaret River Hawks A-Grade skipper Jack Green, left, with club President Elle Weston, committee member Danny Weston and the T20 championship trophy. Margaret River Hawks A-Grade skipper Jack Green, left, with club President Elle Weston, committee member Danny Weston and the T20 championship trophy.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/wXRNchq95bZhpeysFncAhm/bce92b04-27a2-49a0-9326-5e2611ab143d.jpg/r0_0_3024_4032_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
MARGARET RIVER Hawks and Yallingup-Oddbods are celebrating premierships this week after taking out last Saturday's grand finals of the Busselton-Margaret River Cricket Association's T20 competition at Barnard Park.
Create a free account to read this article
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hawks defeated Vasse in a closely-contested A-Grade final played in good spirits on the turf wicket, scraping home with just five balls to spare, while Yallingup-Oddbods claimed two crowns on the synthetic strip when they overcame Vasse by 12 runs in the C-Grade grand final and then Dunsborough by just five runs to win a B-Grade thriller.
Hawks' win is their first A-Grade T20 premiership, breaking a four-year consecutive run of victories by YOBS at the top level.
The opening C-Grade contest at 10am saw YOBS raise a 20-over total of 4-115 after being put into bat by Vasse, with openers Ross Ligtermoet (36) and Ethan Piggott (30 not out) the mainstays of the innings.
Dennis Amour with 1-16 off four overs was the most economical of seven bowlers called on by Vasse, who started their chase brightly with Amour (23 off 18 balls) and Richard Atkinson (35) getting the side off to a good start before a middle-order collapse saw Vasse bowled out for 103 in 19.5 overs.
Newcomer Danny Bayley (3-25) returned the best figures with the ball for YOBS, while Darren Cameron and Ryan Gianola captured two wickets each.
The B-Grade final at 1pm pitted YOBS against Dunsborough, with YOBS registering a competitive 6-131 from their 20 overs.
Max Walsh (27), Alex Warner (a lightning 34 off 16 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes) and Alex Logan (45 not out) were YOBS' biggest contributors, while left-armer Jesse Gautrey claimed 3-35 to be the most successful member of the Dunsborough attack.
Chasing 132 for victory, Dunsborough kept in contention through skipper Cameron Morris (27) and a fast-finishing partnership between Mat Lepidi (23) and Chris King (23 not out) which took them to the brink of victory.
Dunsborough needed 32 off their last 4 overs with five wickets in hand and nearly got there, failing by just 5 runs to take the final into a super over.
Veteran James Taylor (3-24) and left-armer James Whiteford (2-24) returned the best figures with the ball as Tom Payne secured his first B-Grade T20 premiership for YOBS.
One of the best turf wickets ever prepared at Barnard Park set the scene for a great contest in the A-Grade playoff between Vasse and Hawks, with Scott Young winning the toss for Vasse and batting.
The Hawks opening bowling combination of Mat Kent and Rumesh Silva tied down Vasse to 22 runs off their first six overs, before Shankar Madhusudan (a rapid-fire 20 off 10 balls) broke the shackles by hitting his first ball for six, and two of his next three balls for four.
Hawks versatile spin trio comprising left-armer Silva, legspinner Peter Crimp and offspinner Danny Weston conceded only 2-28 off their first nine overs as Vasse were pegged back to 6-103 from 20 overs, with Chris Dendle (36 not out) their highest contributor.
Crimp returned excellent figures of just 1-11 off four overs to be the pick of the Hawks' attack.
Hawks' fielding was another highlight, with Shane Joyce taking two excellent catches on the midwicket boundary.
Jeremy Murphy gave Vasse the best possible start in the field when he trapped Henry Shawcross lbw with the second ball of the Hawks innings before a run had been scored.
Grant Garstone (20 off 14 balls) and Shane Joyce (25 off 20 balls) swung the pendulum in Margaret River's favour with a sparkling partnership which saw Hawks race to 1-45 off their first five overs.
Vasse renewed their hopes when spinners Tom Perks and Chris Dendle applied the brakes, and at 4-86 off 16 overs Hawks still needed 18 off the final four overs.
Tom Miller's 23 off 21 balls was ultimately responsible for Hawks getting up, as they scored the three runs needed off the final over to claim victory.
Man of the match awards went to Ethan Piggott for YOBS (C-Grade), Alex Logan for YOBS (B-Grade) and Chris Dendle for his valiant batting and bowling in a losing cause for Vasse (A-Grade).