Even the boldest of Roman emperors would have struggled to muster as imperious performance as Murray Bridge's A2 Imperials side's trouncing of perpetual battlers Perponda in Saturday's first semi-final.
Set an imposing 157 runs to win and looking to atone for his own 3rd ball duck, Imperials' Jamie Smith took 4 wickets for just 4 runs and namesake Jamie Moore went one better, taking five-for-five to mop up Perponda for a paltry 9 before the beers could even get cold in the esky.
Credit to Perponda, the performance was in some respects an improvement on their previous encounter with Imperials. That said, their extras total this match exceeded their batting total.
Imperials head to the preliminary final facing a chastened Meningie side that failed to capitalise on their marginal table-topping finish, stumbling on their home deck against second-placed Karoonda.
Meningie set Karoonda a 121 run target from their forty overs, the visitors aided by late heroics with the ball by Shane Paech removing top scorer Cameron Reid for 46 and returning figures of 2 for 19. Miserly bowling by Zakk Bullard, taking 1 for 10 from his 8 overs set the stage for Bullard's batting triumph. Fourth in the league batting averages, Bullard top-scored in the run-chase with 31 from 33 balls. Karoonda got over the line comfortably with 12 overs to spare, and Meningie now faces Imperials at home on Saturday.
Lee Spurling was Meningie's best batter on Saturday, scoring 70 from 81 balls including a 64 run partnership with second top-scorer, all-rounder Jayden Edwards who made 33.
Suffice it to say, their opponents have plenty to ... Perponda preparing for next season. Any suggestions or charitable offers?
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