Tara Murray
Consistency has been the difference for Epping this season as it won through to the Diamond Valley Cricket Association Barclay Shield grand final.
Having made finals three of the past four seasons, the Pingers have come up short on each of those occasions.
On Sunday, the demons of those losses were put behind them as they accounted for Rosebank in the semi finals.
Pingers coach Daniel Bramich said it was an exciting reward for the group of players that have been around for a long time.
“We missed out last year and it’s been a long time for the club,” he said.
“We’ve got some more consistency this season. We’re not relying on one or two guys. On any given day, any of the 11 players on the day can win you the game.
“Looking at the stats, we’ve got four players who have all taken more than 20 wickets at an average of 13.
“It’s nice not having to rely on one person.”
On Saturday, the Pingers won the toss and decided to have a bat. They made 6-210.
Bramich said on their ground they were always confident of getting the job done.
Nathan Gardiner made 81, continuing his good form, while Todd Hughes made 85 after an up and down season.
“We were extremely confident,” he said. “We found 150 was really defendable on our ground.
“We found that out through the season. Against Diamond Creek when they beat us, they showed us how to build an innings.
“They made 180 and that was a tough score for us. Having something over 200 you can’t just take the game as deep as possible, you have to score.”
Bramich knew they couldn’t discount Rosebank, having played plenty of grand finals against them when both were in the North Metro Cricket Association.
The Pingers bowlers did the job, led by Bramich, who took five wickets, to bowl Rosebank out for 139.
You have to play the whole 160 overs against Rosebank,” Bramich said.
“They are a really experienced finals campaign side. They always take the game deep and we knew it would likely take until 6pm on Sunday to win the game.
“We were happy to keep them to under 140.”
It was a big weekend for the Pingers with their second XI also winning through to the grand final.
The first XI will play a four day grand final against Rosanna.
Bramich knows it will be a big challenge.
“It’s the best teams that will battle it out, which is good for the competition,” he said.
“Stats wise we’re pretty similar. The match will likely go to 5.30-6pm on March 26. We can not panic during the game, that is our mantra at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Bundoora is through to the Money Shield grand final after beating Lower Eltham in its semi final.
Lower Eltham were bowled out for 135, with Bundoora making 5-136 in reply.
Bundoora will face Eltham in the grand final.
