Royals and Manypeaks reach semifinals

Final round victories to Royals and Manypeaks ensured they both reached the semifinals of the Albany Cricket Association Twenty20 competition at the completion of the regular fixtures.

The last three rounds of the T20 format were played on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, with Peaks, the Lions and Denmark all still a realistic chance of finishing inside the top four heading into round 7.

The Magpies, needing a win to push their way into the semifinals, faced Peaks at Turf North, while the Lions did battle with Mt Barker, who had already qualified, on Turf East.

The Lions were sent in to bat by the Bulls, and opener Cohen Chapman and English import Shameer Ahmed helped give their side a solid start.

Chapman made 14 and Ahmed chipped in with 12, but their side were in a spot of bother at 5-55 before a fighting 33 not out from Scott Worsfold helped them reach 7-104.

The Bulls lost Jason Jones early in the chase and Nathan Crosby followed soon afterwards, but skipper Jeremy Wood and Jarrad Gardner steadied the ship with a 43-run stand.

Seamer Jeremy Ellis got the vital breakthrough, however, bowling Gardner for 23, and he also removed Wood later on for 34.

The run chase came down to the final over as the Bulls needed seven to win with one wicket remaining, given they fielded only 10 players, but Steve Scott was run out by Chapman with four balls remaining to hand the Lions a thrilling five-run win.

Peaks finished comfortable winners in their final-round match to secure a semifinal berth, defeating the Magpies by 41 runs.

Batting first, Peaks reached 6-110 led by 29 from Kelvin Tombleson and were able to defend that total with ease. Only Ryan Gaerth (26) and Jujhar Johal (12) made double figures as the Magpies were rolled for 69 in reply with Bailey Cavanagh taking 4-14.

The other round 7 fixture was not played after the winless North County forfeited to Railways.

In round 5 on Saturday, the Magpies beat Collingwood Park by 40 runs, Peaks scored a four-wicket win over an undermanned Bulldogs outfit and the Tigers downed the Bulls by 41 runs.

Later that afternoon, an unbeaten 64 from Wood guided the Bulls to a seven-wicket win over Denmark, chasing down 122 to win their round 6 clash with 11 balls to spare.

A strong bowling display from the Lions guided them to a four-wicket win over Park after bowling them out for 84, while the Tigers chased down 96 to win against Peaks for the loss of five wickets.