For the second consecutive season, Echuca has qualified for the A- and B-grade Goulburn Murray Cricket women’s grand finals.
And this season, they will share one thing in common when they stride out on to Kyabram Recreation Reserve this Sunday — they will both come in as underdogs.
Echuca’s B-grade squad booked back-to-back grand final appearances with last Sunday’s semi-final win over a gallant Bamawm-Lockington United.
Batting first at Victoria Park, Amy Cooper’s 26 not out and 15 runs to Zoe Cook and Mia Arthurson helped Echuca finish its 20 overs with a solid 5-105.
BLU’s Amber Devereux and Maggie Thompson were the Lions’ sole wicket-takers, with run outs (three) making up the bulk of Echuca’s wickets.
While Alyssa Morphett made a defiant 12-run stand with the bat for BLU, tidy bowling from Mia Arthurson (2-3) and Echuca skipper Jordan Dalziel (2-17) saw the Lions bow out at 6-64.
Echuca will now be hoping to go one step further than last season’s grand final defeat to Kyabram Fire Brigade, but standing in its way will be a Kyabram Redbacks side that is yet to taste defeat.
Kyabram cruised into the grand final with a 42-run victory over Shepparton-Youth Club United, with Sarah Dodd’s 30 runs and Tori Walsh’s 21 stretching the Redbacks’ winning streak to nine games.
In A-grade, Echuca’s road to the grand final has been markedly different to previous seasons.
With just three teams competing this season, no semi-finals were required, as the top two teams earned straight qualification.
Shepparton was first through to the grand final as the A-grade minor premier, losing just one match for the season.
Echuca, the 2019-20 and 2020-21 premier, finished the home-and-away season with a six-wicket win over BLU and will tussle with Shepparton for its third flag in four seasons this Sunday, February 12.
Echuca and Shepparton will face off from 10am at Kyabram Recreation Reserve, while Echuca and Kyabram’s B-grade decider commences at 2pm.