Napoleons-Sebastopol has shaken up the Ballarat Cricket Association first grade’s top four and cemented its finals spot following a stunning bowling display on Saturday.
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The Mounties resumed their pursuit of 190 runs for victory at 2-10 but were unable to put together any notable partnerships for the entire day - dismissed for just 92 runs.
Captain Matthew Ringin (4-34) and Liam Rigby (3-35) were the key bowlers for Naps-Sebas, while Justin Ringin bowled extremely well for 2-6 off nine overs.
The comprehensive 97-run win over the former ladder leader sees Mt Clear drop from first to fourth while Naps-Sebas move into second position.
Skipper Ringin was absolutely rapt with the performance and the confirmation of finals. He said the young group was playing with a “youthful exuberance” and after six wins in a row was entering every clash with confidence.
“It was a great performance. It was basically a final for us and to stand up and play like an experienced group was really good. It’s an exciting time now for our club to know that we are playing finals, hopefully we can make an impact on finals,” Ringin said.
“We go into every contest thinking that we’re going to win and that our best cricket is as good as anyone’s in the association – we do go in with a degree of confidence.”
Ringin described the pitch as “up and down” but once you got in batting was comfortable. He felt his group adapted to the tricky conditions better than Mt Clear.
Regardless of the pitch condition, the bowling display was near-flawless and it would seem the Naps-Sebas bowling attack has a stranglehold on My Clear’s batsmen, having knocked them over for 104 in their previous meeting.
Now with the guarantee of finals, Ringin said next week’s clash with ladder leader Wendouree would be treated with a similar finals intensity.
But the opportunity to experiment with its tactics would be one it considers.
"We are treating next week much the same, but at the same time we have the luxury of trying a few things now, where we can have a look at some different bowling options. While we don’t want to make any drastic changes, we can tinker around with a few things.”