Tough fight for T20 semifinal berths
The newly introduced Albany Cricket Association Twenty20 A-grade competition will be decided this Sunday, completing a hectic weekend of matches for the teams, which play their final three regular rounds across Saturday and Sunday.
The results of rounds 5 and 6 on Saturday afternoon and round 7 early on Sunday will determine the four semifinalists, who then face off at noon, with the two winners then progressing to play in the grand final at 3pm with $300 cash up for grabs.
Railways and Mt Barker loom as two of the likely teams to reach the semifinals given they are both undefeated and the pair face off in round 5, with the winner in the box seat to finish top of the table.
The Bulls have been in te-rrific form in the short for-mat, with games against the Tigers, Denmark and Royals to round out their campaign. The Lions will welcome back key trio Digby Nuthall, Ted Batchelor and Jeremy Ellis as they press for at least one more win to give themselves a hope of a semifinal berth.
Manypeaks sit on equal points with the Lions after four rounds but still have three games remaining and will hope to regain all-rounders Harry Broomhall and Ryan Kinnear.
North County are winless and all but out of the running for a semifinals berth, leaving Collingwood Park and the Magpies also to fight out a place in the top four.
Park have won one of their four matches, while the Magpies have a game in hand but have registered only one win thus far.
The top-ranked team will face the fourth-placed side in one semifinal and second plays third in the other semifinal to decide the two finalists on Sunday.
The B-grade and C-grade finals will also be played on Sunday afternoon, with the two top-ranked teams facing off in a standalone decider.
ACA A-GRADE T20 FIXTURES
Round 5 — 12.15pm Saturday
Collingwood Park v Denmark at Turf North
North County v Manypeaks at Hard North
Railways v Mt Barker at Turf West
Royals — Bye
Round 6 — 3.15pm Saturday
Denmark v Mt Barker at Turf West
Manypeaks v Railways at Turf North
Royals v Collingwood Park at Hard North
North County – Bye
Round 7 — 9am Sunday
Denmark v Manypeaks at Turf North
North County v Railways at Turf West
Mt Barker v Royals at Hard North
Collingwood Park – Bye
Semifinals — Noon Sunday
1st v 4th at Turf North
2nd v 3rd at Turf West
Final — 3.30pm Sunday
S1 winner v S2 winner at Turf North
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