THE undefeated Hit and Run team were confronted with a semi-final scare against an unlikely opponent as the Last Man Standing Twenty20 cricket season wrapped up in Jimboomba.
Batting first, Hit and Run scored 3-151 from their 20 overs against the traditionally weaker Bengal Warriors.
Man of the match Andrew Hardy picked up 52 runs from 34 balls.
In reply, the Bengal Warriors gained early momentum with a strong run rate until two top order batsmen were dismissed from one delivery on a double play from Rodney Teese.
Under Last Man Standing rules, the Bengal Warriors' only path to victory was to hit a six on the final ball which would have been worth 12 runs but this did not unfold.
The Bengal Warriors were all out for 140 runs.
Out of form fill-in Bengal Warriors player Jacob Wilson said his sloppy wide bowling and no ball deliveries effectively secured Hit and Run's victory.
"I even dropped a lollipop midfield catch," he said.
"To my credit, I tactically got myself run out for one run to give the guys further down the batting order a chance to hit some boundaries." The second semi-final between Jimby Crickets and Duck Duck Gone was a more decisive contest.
Duck Duck Gone lost early wickets and struggled for runs and scored 5-99 from 20 overs. Brad Hamill was dominant with the ball taking two wickets and conceding eight runs from his four overs.
Jimby Crickets comfortably chased down the small target with three wickets down and 21 balls to spare.
This ensured Jimby's Crickets faced off against Hit and Run in an entertaining and close final which was decided in the second last ball of the game.
Jimby Crickets were first to bat and posted a competitive 4-153. No batsmen scored a 50 but few were dismissed cheaply.
Hit and Run batsmen Rodney Teese scored 50 runs from 31 balls while man of the match Simran Singh scored 28 runs from 26 balls.
The undefeated side narrowly claimed victory with 154 runs from 19.4 overs.
Brad Hamill won the Batting Trophy and player of the season honours with batting statistics which put Don Bradman to shame.
Hamill scored 340 runs at an average of 113 and strike rate of 185 through the season.
He also took 11 wickets with an average of 11.5 runs per wicket with the ball.
A dream team of players from the Jimboomba season has been selected to take on a representative team from Ipswich in a matter of weeks.
Players include Max Harkin, Rodney Teese, Brad Hamill, Colin Ginn, Hayden Teese, Shaun Harkin, Craig Stace and Isaac Hardy.
