St George are the 2012/13 First Grade Premiers after defeating Sutherland by nine wickets in the Grand Final at Bankstown Oval yesterday (April 5-7).
It was a come from behind victory for St George. They had trailed by 47 runs on the first innings after being bowled out for 177 in reply to Sutherland’s 224.
Sutherland started the third and final day of the clash at 2-37, with a lead of 84 runs and eight second innings wickets in hand. However, their batsmen failed to occupy the crease and they were bowled out for just 88, leaving St George 136 runs to chase in two sessions to secure the Premiership.
The destroyer was NSW SpeedBlitz Blues fast bowler, Trent Copeland. After scoring 62 runs the previous day, Copeland finished with the outstanding figures of 7-43 from 20.5 overs. They were the fourth best Grand Final figures by a bowler in a single innings, while his match figures of 9-102 were the seventh best in Grand Final history.
St George lost just one wicket on their way to reaching the victory target, with Stewart McCabe (51) and Kurtis Patterson (58) both posting unbeaten half-centuries.
Trent Copeland received the Benaud Medal as the Player of the Grand Final. It was the second time that he had terrorised Sutherland in a decider. In 2009/10 he claimed 8-58 in one innings as St George went on to complete a hat-trick of titles.
Today’s victory caps off an outstanding summer for St George, who are also 2012/13 Club Champions. It was their first Premiership in First Grade since 2009/10, and they also won the Fourth Grade Premiership and finished runners-up in Fifth Grade to Gordon.
The Second Grade Grand Final was won by Sydney University, who defeated Parramatta by 257 runs, while the Third Grade title went to Gordon.
Full scorecards from all Grand Finals are available on www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au.
Match Scores
First Grade: St George 177 (T Copeland 62 N Fitzgerald 5-42) and 1-140 (K Patterson 58no S McCabe 51no) def Sutherland 224 (N Maddinson 107 A Zampa 50) and 88 (T Copeland 7-43)
Second Grade: Sydney University 468 (B Larkin 151 L Robertson 98 W Hay 61) def Parramatta 211 (R Rizwan 71 L Forbes 60)
Third Grade: Gordon 3-151 (D Livermore 63no) def Sydney University 147 (A Durie 8-56)
Fourth Grade: St George 191 (C Fogarty 99no) def Sydney 88 (S Wark 4-23 J Berry 4-24)
Fifth Grade: Gordon 139 (D Monaghan 46 P Witherly 5-64) and 6-146 (D Monaghan 62) def St George 121 (D Horton 38 M Selby 5-15 J Richardson 3-22) at Pratten Park.
