NORTH East Knights have achieved their best result at the Victorian Under 18 Championships by winning their third consecutive match in Melbourne yesterday.
The Knights cruised to an emphatic victory over South East Country, passing their paltry total of 117, with the loss of just three wickets.
The Knights now play the Western Waves in the quarter-final at the Junction Oval today.
Two more wins would see them reach the grand final to be played at the MCG on Monday.
“The boys have done something that the Knights have never done before,” team manager Doug Nielsen said.
“We have surprised a few teams and we have proven that we can match it with the teams from the city.”
The Knights suffered a pre-match blow with opening bowler Josh Mallichan ruled out with a back injury forcing management to call up Wangaratta Magpies quick Matt Gathercole.
“It was a pretty good effort from Matt, his father brought him down last night,” Nielsen said.
Early wickets to Gathercole (1-9) and Aaron Boyle (1-5) helped the Knights grab the ascendency after losing the toss.
Another strong bowling performance from James McNeil (3-30) and two run outs, including the brilliant dismissal of Victorian under-19 representative Bob Clements (32), continued his near faultless tournament.
“We bowled very well, it was the best we have been all week, the oval wasn’t the best and it was tough to field on but we did it well,” Nielsen said.
A half-century to opening batsmen Jamie Sheehan (56) and 36 to Matt Brown ensured the Knights overcame the early loss of Zac O’Brien.
The one disappointing aspect of the day, according to Nielsen, was a lacklustre batting effort after they passed South East’s total — all out for 182.
The only other batsman with a notable score was Joe Doyle with 24.