Club cricket final: Appleby or Invercargill-Old Boys?
Appleby hasn’t beaten Invercargill-Old Boys for two seasons, which included a 145-run loss in the 2022 final, they believe that can change on Saturday.
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Appleby has a mental hurdle to leap over if it is to lock in the 2023 ILT Premier League southland club cricket title late on Saturday.
Appleby and Invercargill-Old Boys will clash in the 2023 decider at Queens Park in Invercargill.
On the face of it, Appleby should be favoured heading into the final given it finished the regular season as minor premiers on top of the standings.
But most, outside the Appleby faithful at least, probably have circled an Invercargill-Old Boys win for Saturday.
There’s a reason for that, Appleby hasn’t beaten Invercargill-Old Boys for two seasons which included a 145-run loss in the 2022 final.
Appleby captain Sam Downing isn’t surprised many are picking an Invercargill-Old Boys victory.
“We know we are the underdogs, there’s no doubt about that. But we are confident heading in, it’s been two seasons we haven’t beaten Old Boys, but we haven’t lost to any other team in the last two years and each time we’ve been getting closer, and close to that performance. We are really building nicely.”
Invercargill-Old Boys’ rise during the past four or five seasons has been an impressive one.
Captain Liam McWilliam goes as far as saying they were “on death’s door” at one point only to build to the point they are now eyeing a third straight final and attempting to go back-to back in the ILT Premier League.
He says they picked up some players from Southland Boys’, built a good culture, trained hard, and have reaped the reward of that.
A victory on Saturday would be another big step in the club’s revival.
“We are definitely wary [of Appleby]. I think they are a good side all around the park and offer threats all over the show really,” McWilliam says.
“I think for us we’ve got to look to bat 50 overs, that’s probably the key. We bat deep, and we’ve got good bowlers to back it up.”
Saturday’s grand final is scheduled to start at 11am, with a reserve day in place for Sunday if Saturday is washed out.
The forecast as of late Thursday was for a few showers.
THE TEAMS
Appleby: Jamie Clark, Hayden Hart, Kieran Lloyd, Aaron Hart, Sam Downing ©, Reid Murray, Prashant Singh, Hunter Cairns, Jacob Downing, Connor Hart, Calum Johnstone, Cam Murray.
Invercargill-Old Boys: Brendan Domigan, Chris Case, Keiran O’Neill, Jake Kura, Keegan Russell, Blake Buttar-Scurr, Blair McKenzie, Liam McWilliam ©, Sam Nicholson, Sam McLachlan, Jordan Tooby, Brayden Thomas.