A CONTROLLED, unbeaten half century from ACT opener Tim Floros guided the Aces past a spirited, albeit it out-gunned Central West Wranglers at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday in their Cricket NSW Plan B Regional Bash semi-final.
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Set 5-111 after Wranglers’ veterans Adam Ryan (40 off 41) and Jameel Qureshi (28 off 30) put on 71 for the fifth wicket, Floros was dropped early.
It was a tough chance to the right of wicketkeeper Matt Corben, but after that he never looked troubled throughout an otherwise classy 66 off 49 balls, guiding the ACT outfit into the grand final.
Floros played a lone hand for the bulk of the ACT innings and at points looked like he may have to do it all off his own bat as the Wranglers fought hard to keep the Aces to 4-52 in the ninth over.
Orange and Centrals skipper Daryl Kennewell was doing the bulk of the damage at that point and had 2-9 after removing Scott Murn (5 off 8) and dangerous Ginninderra-based bat Rhys Healy (5 off 6) in quick succession.
But Floros found welcome support in the form of Jordie Misic, the diminutive left-hander noodling his way to 32 from 34 balls in a 63-run stand for the fifth wicket that guided ACT home, with 17 balls and six wickets in hand.
A slow start to the Central West innings was compounded by the loss of early wickets.
The Wranglers were 2-23 at the end of the power play and while they whacked 10 runs in the seventh over it came at the cost of power-packet opener Ben Sheehan (13 off 16).
ACT seamers Murn (2-13), Esam Rahman (1-18) and skipper Ethan Bartlett (1-21) kept the run-rate at lower than six-an-over and that pressure brought about regular wickets.
Despite Qureshi and Ryan rebuilding the Wranglers’ innings and taking their side up over the 100-mark, it wasn’t enough.
“They timed it well, Tim Floros is obviously a serious player and I think he coasted there at the end,” Wranglers’ Josh Doherty said.
“Regardless, we’re all pretty chuffed to be here. [Kennewell] bowled well and Jameel and Adam Ryan did a really good job there at the end.”
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Kennewell finished with figures of 2-25 to be the pick of the Wranglers’ bowlers, while Matt Stephen (1-24) and Nic Broes (1-19) also picked up wickets at the SCG.
“What a privilege,” Qureshi said in the SCG home sheds.
“I really enjoyed it and it’s such a good bunch of guys we’ve got here at the Wranglers.”
The Central West skipper thanked the off-field efforts of Matt Fearnley and Joel Gurney, as well as his entire playing squad before taking the blame for his side’s total against the Aces.
“Absolutely, I’ll put my hand up. I just couldn’t get a boundary away,” Qureshi said.
Central West found the rope six times in their innings, while Floros himself whacked nine fours in his match-winning stint at the crease.
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Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
