Pegs Creek, Dampier Taverners book spot in West Pilbara Cricket T20 grand final

Dampier Taverners 1 will face off against the undefeated Pegs Creek 1 in the West Pilbara Cricket Association T20 grand final, after an impressive upset win against the Karratha Kats.

Facing off under the Friday night lights at Millars Well Oval, the Kats got off to a shaky start with opener Shane Edwards being dismissed by LBW in just the third ball of the game.

The Kat’s day was made worse just two balls later, when replacement Jackson Davey was dismissed for a duck, paving the way for an all-out batting collapse and an easy win for the Taverners.

But it was Michael James, the Kats fourth batter, who restored faith in the line-up, smashing 61 runs off 48 balls to lift his team’s total to 5/123 at the end of the 20 overs.

Despite valiant efforts from the lower-order Kats batsmen, the Taverners came out firing, needing just 16 overs and four wickets to best the Kats’ total.

It was a Jayden Lagana and Greg Shirley partnership which proved decisive for the Taverners, with Shirley managing an impressive 79 runs off 53 balls.

Playing at the same time over at the Karratha Leisureplex Oval, Wickham players were praying for an upset victory over Pegs Creek 1, who held a perfect record of seven-straight wins coming into the semi-final.

Pegs Creek won the toss and elected to bat first, with Lachy Seabrook again showing why he’s one of the most feared men with a bat in the league, smashing home 63 runs off just 37 balls, including four 4s and two 6s.

His opening partner, and equally as feared batsman, Jordan Perkusich, wasn’t on his usual form, managing just 11 runs off seven balls before he was clean bowled by Brooke Ball.

The lower-order Pegs batters managed to string together a few healthy totals, with A Faneco hitting 31 off 28 balls, and C Byrne managing a healthy 15 runs to see the total set at 6/153.

For Wickham, openers Mitchell Smith and Ben Amphlett looked strong at the crease in the first over, smashing home 10 off the first six balls to look like a formidable outfit.

And with 11 more runs in the first four balls of the second over, they were feeling confident.

But it was a slip-up by Mitchell Smith on the fourth ball of the second over — which saw him caught by Dean Whiteford — which shook the game up, bringing Kaid Kemp to the crease.

The next four overs were without incident for Wickham, with Kemp and Amphlett slowly climbing towards the 153 target.

But a sixth over stumble for Amphlett proved decisive, with batter four through six Brooke Ball, Scott Atkinson and Riley Brown all failing to post 10 runs — Brown picking up a duck.

Lower-order Wickham batters were able to add a few runs to the total, but in the end fell short of the target, finishing the 20 overs on 135 runs, sealing a grand final berth for Pegs Creek.

The grand final, set to feature Pegs Creek 1 and Dampier Taverners 1, will be played on Saturday, March 25 at the Karratha Leisureplex.