Stanthorpe is the best representative cricket side in the Darling Downs and South West Queensland after adding the Slade Shield to their already impressive representative season haul by defeating Roma with two overs and two wickets to spare at the weekend.
The Slade Shield is the ultimate prize in the Darling Down and South West Queensland Cricket Representative Season. Stanthorpe earned the right to play for the Slade Shield after their recent win in the Mitchell Shield taking on Roma, the winners of the Knox Shield.
Stanthorpe captain Lachie Pill was full of praise for his team following the victory at Roma.
“This Stanthorpe team just has a knack of winning and the Slade Shield win tops off a fantastic season of Rep Cricket,” he said.
The Stanthorpe captain said his team was not quite sure what to expect. None of the players had previously played in Roma.
“The one thing we were sure of, was that it would be a challenge,” Pill said.
Losing the toss and bowling first on the synthetic wickets did make the job difficult according to the captain however some good bowling performances from the Stanthorpe attack restricted Roma to a moderate total of 153.
Andrew Einam starred with the ball and his 5-26 off 7.2 overs could not have come at a better time.
After Roma lost their openers (including captain Joe Verney) cheaply, Andrew Einam and Kalo Shem cut a swathe through the batting line up.
Einam finished with figures of 5/26 from 7.2 overs. He was well supported with the ball by Shem who took three wickets. Brendan Barker, Damian Anderson and Liam Lanza all did their job with the ball.
There were several ducks on the Roma scorecard, but Joey Packer stood firm and had added 80 important runs before becoming Einam’s fifth scalp. Roma was all out after 35.2 overs. Stanthorpe chasing 154 to win.
Stanthorpe supporters in Roma and watching the live stream at home were stunned when opener Lachie Pill, who has been in good form, was out for a duck after facing only two deliveries.
The captain said with the score at 1/1 Stanthorpe seemed determine to make a tough job even more difficult as things took a turn for the worse.
Charlie Moncada (6) and Sam Dowie (6) joined Pill in the club house.
Despite the loss of Jamie Carnell, another top order batter for a duck, Jordan Lanza steadied the ship.
His unbeaten innings of 79 from 100 balls including an eighth wicket cameo with brother Liam (11) which proved to be the vital winning partnership saw Stanthorpe home in the 37th over in a thrilling finish.
The Stanthorpe win was just the tonic for President of the Stanthorpe Cricket Association, Tim Harslett who is recovering from knee replacement surgery this week.
Stanthorpe Fall of Wickets:- 1-1 Lachlan Pill, 2-11 Charlie Moncada, 3-34 Sam Dowie, 4-37 Jamie Carnell, 5-77 Daniel Folkers, 6-103 Zechariah Kalo Shem, 7-111 Aiden Halford, 8-115 Damian Anderson
Batting
Sam Dowie (6) c: Jackson Packer b: Lachlan Munro
Lachlan Pill (c) (0) c: Joey Packer b: Matt Cree
Charlie Moncada (6) c: Joey Packer b: Lachlan Munro
Jordan Lanza (79) not out
Jamie Carnell (0) lbw: Matt Creeley
Daniel Folkers (11) c: Fill-in b: Joey Packer
Zechariah Kalo Shem (13) b: Lachlan Munro
Aiden Halford (0) b: Lachlan Munro
Damian Anderson ( 0) c: Ben Meiklejohn b: Matt Creeley
Liam Lanza (11) not out
Brendon Barker DNB
Extras: 32 27WD; 4NB; 1LB Total8 / 158 (37 Overs)
Stanthorpe
BOWLERS O M R W
Liam Lanza 8 3 40 0
Brendon Barker 4 0 18 1
Damian Anderson 8 2 15 0
Zechariah Kalo Shem 5 1 21 3
Charlie Moncada 1 0 13 0
Andrew Einam 7.2 0 26 5
Lachlan Pill (c) 2 0 18 0
