Mount Lofty ended a 32-year premiership drought to win the Hills Cricket Association (HCA) ‘A’ Grade Grand Final against Meadows by eight runs on Saturday in a classic encounter. The Redcaps last lifted the Von Doussa Shield way back in the 1988/89 season!

The game was played in near-perfect conditions at Meadows Oval as Mount Lofty won the toss and batted first. Josh Healey and James Kittel-Neill got the Redcaps off to an excellent start with a 61-run opening stand before Kittel-Neill went for 15 (36 balls). Healey went soon after for a fine 46 (50 balls) closely followed by Stewart Leigh (2), as Meadows hit back hard to see the game evenly poised at the 20-over drinks break with Mount Lofty at 3/69. As he has so often done in the past, Redcaps skipper Jordan Neis-Beer was the ‘glue’ holding the innings together as he added 25 runs for the fourth wicket with Dylan Dunbar (18) before joining forces with Brad Hutton in what was the pivotal partnership of the game. The normally aggressive Hutton ‘reversed roles’ with his skipper as Neis-Beer went on the attack to make 67 from 82 balls (8 x 4’s) with 71 runs coming from the final 10 overs. Hutton finished on 17 not out (41 balls) with their partnership worth 80 runs for the fifth wicket. The Redcaps had good momentum going into the innings break with Adam Carthew hitting the final ball of the innings for six to see Mount Lofty finish their 40 overs on 6/178. Meadows skipper Rohan Reid was the standout bowler with 4/23 from eight overs. 

Meadows started their run chase in disastrous fashion with Haydn Reid (0) dismissed by Will Healey (1/17) in the first over of the innings. This brought Rohan Reid to the crease to join Luke Tonkin. Tonkin was going well as he added 29 runs with his skipper before Adam Carthew (2/27) got the huge wicket of Reid (1) in his first over with the score at 2/30. Carthew dismissed Tonkin soon after for 36 from 46 balls to leave Meadows in a hole at 3/45. The experienced Kris Dawe and Max Buckley saw their side to drinks at 3/72 and the game was in the balance. Brett Pistola came to the bowling crease the first over after drinks and had an immediate impact as he removed Kris Dawe for 29 followed by Oscar Tydeman (0) as Meadows slipped to 5/72 and the Redcaps were well on top. The dangerous Chad Dawe joined Buckley and as always, Meadows weren’t going to lie down with this pair working their side back into the contest with an excellent 63-run partnership from just 73 balls. This left Meadows needing 44 runs from 42 balls as the 34th over commenced. That man Brett Pistola was brought back into the attack and claimed the huge wicket of Chad Dawe for 32 (31 balls). Five balls later, Marko Kovac (0) was run out as the Bulldogs slipped to 7/136. Buckley (31) and Callan Blackwell (5) were both dismissed by Pistola to give him a ‘five-for’ to leave Meadows needing 18 runs from the last over. Pistola was the man charged with the responsibility as Angus Frazer (16 not out) faced up. Frazer sent a shiver through the large Mount Lofty crowd as he dispatched the first ball over the boundary for a ‘maximum’. However three balls later it was all over as Pistola dismissed Tom Bevan-Giles, fittingly caught by skipper Neis-Beer, to leave Meadows eight runs short with two balls remaining in the game. Pistola was the hero with the ball as he snared the amazing figures of 6/32 from 7.4 overs to give him 10 wickets in the finals series. 

So a fantastic Grand Final in the first HCA season featuring all one-day matches sees Mount Lofty as the champions. Meadows were gallant as always, taking the game to the last over. Mount Lofty’s win means there have been three different clubs win the Von Doussa Shield in the past three seasons as the competition continues to become more even, particularly with the advent of the one-day format. Roll on 2021/22!