Above: Rory Gilliate launches into a big shot during his 131-run innings on Sunday.RORY Gilliatte almost singlehandedly destroyed the highly fancied Beaconsfield team to sensationally guide Nyora into the inaugural Kookaburra Cup Twenty20 Tournament final.
In one of the finest individual all-round performances seen in West Gippsland, Gilliatte dazzled the large crowd with clean hitting, blasting high-calibre bowlers including Matt Meehan, Jason Dodd and Ray Cook to all corners of the Tooradin Recreation Reserve and finishing with 131 in the semi-final.
After Nyora reached a modest 0/18 off four overs, Gilliatte exploded, smashing 11 sixes and nine fours before being dismissed after just 50 balls by Glen Scales in the 15th over when Nyora was 172.
Any reprieve for the Tigers bowlers was shortlived. Andrew Collis took over where Gilliatte left off, helping himself to two boundaries and three sixes as he raced to 42 off 18 balls.
At the other end, Troy Ferguson provided invaluable support, making 34. After 20 overs, the Maroons had reached the imposing total of 226. Travis Turnbull took 2/34 late in the innings and Scales bowled well to capture 1/27 off five overs, however the Tiger attack had no answer for the explosive power of the Nyora batsmen.
However Gilliatte had not finished his assault. The Tigers were facing the daunting prospect of needing better than 11 runs an over and Gilliatte quickly ended any chance they had, taking 4/41 off five overs. Only a dropped chance denied him a five-wicket hall.
He made up for missing the milestone by sensationally running out Beaconsfield skipper and Saturday centurion Luke Sibley with a direct hit before Sibley could face a ball.
Nick Fairbank (2/19), Matt Hendry (1/12) and Matt Hutchinson (1/23) shared the remaining wickets, and when Meehan was caught off Collis’ first delivery, Beaconsfield was all out for 103 in just the 14th over.
Ryan O’Connor played a lone hand in defying the bowlers, taking 36 off 25 balls.
While other commitments had restricted Gilliatte to playing a handful of F-grade games this season, Nyora is hopeful the former Leongatha League Country Week representative will be available for B-grade duty in the new year.
Nyora’s opponents in the final will be Tooradin after the Seagulls easily accounted for Merinda Park.
Lester Betreen (20 off 21 balls), Chris Shepherdson (26 off 18), Michael Quieros (22 off 23), Jess Mathers (25 off 21), Brett Armitage (11 off seven) and Peter Jessop (13 off seven) all got starts but none was able to master the accurate Seagull attack, reaching the modest total of 8/148.
Tooradin skipper Trevor Johnston (2/39), Paul Ferrari (1/35) and Matt Finch (1/39) restricted the Merinda Park batsmen, however an inspired spell from youngster Sam Clarke (4/13) ensured his side a moderate chase.
Dropped chances and near-misses proved costly for Merinda Park, as Dave Freeman (72 off 52 balls) and Aaron Bickery (64 not out off 49) made light work of the target, coasting to a nine-wicket victory.
Johnston, who batted without pads following the late dismissal of Freeman, blasted the winning boundary off the first ball of the 18th over. Quieros was the sole wicket-taker for Merinda Park, finishing with 1/6.
The final of the inaugural Kookaburra Cup will be on Sunday, 22 January.
