The Cobar Cowboys will take on Dubbo in the grand final of the Brewery Shield cricket competition after they accounted for Bourke in the semi final on Sunday.
In the match played at Ward Oval, Cobar won the toss and elected to bat, but their innings struggled under pressure from Bourke’s bowlers.
Cobar finished with 122 all out in 32.5 overs, largely thanks to a strong performance from Jayden Potts, who remained unbeaten on 50 off 31 balls.
Top order contributions from Jake Harbison (25) and James McClure (20) were the only other batters to reach double figures.
Bourke’s bowlers put in a solid effort, with Benjamin Taylor (3/14) and Andrew Bell (3/30) leading the charge.
Will Mitchell (1/21) and Chad Taylor (2/33) also bowled well on what was a tricky wicket for the batsmen.
Bourke’s effort in the field made every run hard to come by for the Cobar batters.
Chasing 123, Bourke’s batting order suffered from the regular fall of wickets under pressure from Cobar’s bowlers.
They were all out for 96 in 32 overs, falling 26 runs short of the target.
Bourke’s top order batsmen all made starts but failed to capatilise—George Dickson (19) and Adam McLean (17) were the only two batters to make any real progress before they fell.
Mitchell was dismissed in the first over for a duck, caught and bowled by Jake Harbison, and Jarryd Samuelsson (13) was later dismissed by Ryan Urquhart.
The middle order also struggled, with Ben Nott (14) falling LBW to Jay Egan, and Benjamin Taylor, Colin Lang, and Daniel McKenna all departing quickly.
With the match slipping away, Archie Nott (10 not out) held firm at one end looking as comfortable as any batsman on the day but lacked support.
The lower order couldn’t sustain any resistance, and Bourke was dismissed for 96.
Cobar’s bowlers were exceptional, with Egan leading the charge with four wickets for 12 runs in his eight overs, including crucial strikes in the middle order.
Nicola Harbison also impressed with three wickets for 19 runs from eight overs, taking key wickets in the lower order.
Jake Harbison (1/9 in three overs), James McClure (1/13 in four overs), and Ryan Urquhart (1/14 in two overs) also provided support, keeping the pressure on Bourke throughout the innings.
Cobar’s bowlers were the difference in the game, with Egan and Nicola Harbison dismantling Bourke’s batting line-up.
Despite the promising start from Dickson and McLean, Bourke was never able to recover from early setbacks, falling short by 26 runs.
Cobar will now meet Dubbo this Sunday in the grand final.
The Cowboys will be looking to break a long drought as it’s been over a decade since they won their last Brewery Shield title.
The local Twenty/20 match on Friday night was washed-out.—contributed
