Wandering cause semifinal upset against Lake Grace, Pingelly-Noonebin beat Cuballing in a thriller

Lake Grace were bundled out in the semifinals of the Upper Great Southern Cricket Association A- grade competition on Saturday. After the regular season, Lake Grace sat on top of the standings with eight wins from their 12 matches and went into the finals as the top-ranked team. However they were upset in the semifinal by fourth-placed Wandering, losing by eight wickets at Lake Grace. Lake Grace won the toss and batted first but only three batters reached double figures as they were skittled for 71. Opener Kalan Joyce made 12 and there was some resistance from Shaye Bowron (17) and Craig Shaw (12), but the Wandering attack was simply too good. Bryan Hardie produced a superb spell to end with figures of 4-9 from his 10 overs to leave the home side reeling at 5-41. Lewis Parsons chipped in with 3-11, and Evan Barrett snared 2-19 to leave their side needing just 72 to win. Hardie was out lbw for nine but Jacob Schorer (41no) and Carl Garrick (21) helped their side to a dominant semifinal win, passing the total in the 15th over for the loss of only two wickets. In the other A-grade semifinal, the second-placed Cuballing lost a thriller against eventual premiers Pingelly-Noonebin. Brock Francis (47) and Grady Francis (38) helped Cuballing make 5-170 batting first at home as Cameron Hill claimed 2-33 from his nine overs. Pingelly-Noonebin slipped to 6-77 in the chase but a fighting half-century from Luke Kirk and tail-end contributions from Hill (19) and Blair Kemp (16) helped their side win in a tight finish. Luke Kirk made 54 not out to lead Pingelly-Noonebin to a two-wicket win, passing the target with eight balls to spare. For Cuballing, Roger Ballard was the main wicket taker in defeat with 4-40 from 6.4 overs, while Brock Francis was tidy in his 10 overs, returning 1-20.