Haisman Shield | Gallery | Upset king Numurkah stuns Central Park-St Brendan’s

Michael Eckard was the star for Numurkah, blasting a spectacular century in the first innings as his side reached 7-223.

Numurkah then restricted the Tigers to 189 in reply, with Eckard the main man again as he took three wickets.

Eckard said Numurkah was full of confidence following two great wins heading into a semi-final clash against Katandra this weekend.

“The last two weekends the team morale has been so positive. We don’t care who we are playing, we just want to take each hurdle as it comes,” Eckard said.

“We all are keen and hungry to get to the grand final.

“I think we can beat anyone on the day. It just takes a couple of good performances and everyone is chipping in at the moment.”

Numurkah won the toss and elected to bat first at Deakin Reserve in Shepparton and Eckard said the team was hoping to reach 180.

Thanks to his stellar efforts, it did that and more.

Eckard strode to the crease as one of the openers, remaining in the centre for almost three hours.

Before the game, Eckard said he and teammate Tim Arnel had travelled to the ground together when Arnel offered up a prediction.

“I took Tim with me, we were driving together to the game and he said ‘I think you’re on, mate’,” Eckard said.

Arnel was right.

Eckard went on to smash eight fours and eight sixes as he powered his way to 126 before he was finally out caught, with his total accounting for more than half of Numurkah’s score.

“I just said to myself I am going to try and bat until 25 overs. A couple of the spinners came on then and I had a feeling that I could go for it,” Eckard said.

“It came off the bat well, so I thought I might as well give it a crack. I had a bit of luck, that’s just how the game works.

“I have been trying all season to get over the 100-run mark and I just fell short each time. Scoring that in a qualifying final is pretty special.

“It was one of the best pitches we have played on all season. You could just back yourself and hit through the line of the ball.”

At 4-184 after 40 overs, Numurkah added another 39 runs off the last five overs to push its score beyond the 220 mark.

Dylan Grandell made 37 and Liam Gledhill 26 for Numurkah, while Brendan Scott took 3-72 for the Tigers.

With a strong total on the board, Eckard said he knew his side was in a good spot as it headed out into the field.

“We said we wanted to try and get to 180, we had a couple of big overs there and we got to 220,” Eckard said.

“I said to the boys ‘I think we are on top here’.

“We just wanted to restrict them from hitting boundaries. We kept on building the pressure and getting the required run rate up.”

And restrict the Tigers they did.

Four of the Tigers’ opening five batters were out in single digits, with Jarrod Wakeling’s score of 41 the shining light of the top order.

The Tigers had lost two games all season, but they found themselves behind the eight ball at 5-70 when Wakeling was out caught.

Rhiley Lau and Ramadan Yze put on a resilient partnership of 62 to claw the Tigers back into the contest.

But Lau was out for 50 and Yze was later dismissed for 33, with Eckard claiming the wicket of the later.

It was one of three wickets for Eckard, who showed he was as dangerous with the ball as he was with the bat.

With the Tigers at 6-171, the last four wickets fell for 19 runs as Numurkah wrapped up its second surprise victory in as many weeks.

“We are starting to come together as a team,” Eckard said.

“It has been a really good team effort the last couple of weeks and I think as a group we got a lot tighter after the Mooroopna win.

“It was a pretty good team effort. The fielding was on top as well, so that makes a massive difference.”

Eckard was the pick of the Numurkah bowlers with match figures of 3-33, while Tim Arnel took 2-19.

Numurkah will now take on Katandra in the semi-finals this weekend after the Eagles defeated Mooroopna by one wicket.

The Tigers’ finals journey will continue despite their defeat, with them benefiting from the lucky loser rule in the finals.

The Tigers will face off against minor premier Kyabram this weekend following the Redbacks’ comfortable 63-run triumph over Waaia.