Batting: Noah Maguire 35*

Bowling: Delwyn Castelino 3/22

Written By Captain Sajan Rajkumar

Nerves and excitement filled the air as Marist Midnight arrived at Garran, eager to claim the silverware. Already crowned Minor Premiers, the big question remained: Could they secure the title as Premiers of Stage 3 Div 3?

Marist won the toss and chose to bat first. However, things didn’t start off smoothly as they lost a couple of early wickets and found themselves at 3/28. Enters Noah, who played without pressure, providing the team with much-needed runs. Aaron joined him, and together they steadied the ship, bringing the score to 4/109. Marist batted through the full 30 overs, finishing with a solid total of 8/135, setting Eastlake a decent target.

After a motivational pep talk from coach Steve, Marist took to the field, fired up and ready to claim the silverware. With Noah and Nate leading the bowling attack, Eastlake struggled to get off to a fast start, scoring few runs in the first four overs. But then, Eastlake started finding their rhythm, hitting the ball all over the park. By the 13th over, they were in control with a score of 2/60, looking to chase down the target comfortably.

That’s when our brilliant coach Will made the key move by setting a leg-side trap. The strategy paid off as Liam took a crucial wicket, assited by a sharp piece of fielding from Seb. The momentum shifted, and Marist was back on top. The team continued to bowl with precision, keeping Eastlake’s runs down with a well-executed offside trap and slower deliveries. Delwyn bowled superbly, taking 3/22 from 6 overs, while Liam followed up with 1/15 off 6 overs, and Hugh contributed with 1/3 from just 2 overs. By the 29th over, Eastlake’s required run rate had skyrocketed to 21.5 runs per over. Marist kept the pressure on, conceding only 4 runs in that over.

In the final over, Eastlake needed 39 runs to win. Noah bowled with confidence, and an excellent run-out from Aaron sealed the deal. Eastlake fell short, finishing on 99 runs, handing Marist a thrilling victory by 36 runs. The team erupted in celebration, fired up and ecstatic to have won the title!

A huge thank you to our Cricket ACT Umpire Chris Cahill and Xander Denny for helping us umpire, f, as well as Matt and Steve for their umpiring throughout the season. A special thanks to the scorers and to Will, our coach, who led us to the finals and kept the faith in us. Kim, our manager, played a crucial role in organising everything, ensuring that we always had a sub when needed. To all the supporters who came out to watch, especially our parents your encouragement meant the world to us. And last but not least, thank you to Archie for stepping in as our star fill-in throughout the season.

What a season. What a victory. Marist Midnight, Premiers of Stage 3 Div 3!