Stirling won their third Hills Cricket Association (HCA) A1 premiership in four years after defeating Scott Creek Ironbank (SCIB) by nine wickets at Stirling Oval yesterday. Scott Creek Ironbank skipper Adam Shearwood won the toss and decided to bat first on a picture-perfect Adelaide Hills day. Unfortunately for SCIB, that was as good as it got, as they slumped to 4/10 in the eighth over. Stirling were on fire in the field with Eagles ‘keeper Sean McCullum pulling off an excellent leg-side stumping off the bowling of James Richards (2/24), while the dangerous Aaron Thompson was dismissed via a one-handed catch from Jack Pick from the bowling of veteran Pete Fryer (1/16). Stuart Norton (20) and Matthew Dunn (14) tried to lift their side but it was to no avail, as SCIB were rolled for just 75. Ezekiel Hemming was the standout seam bowler for the Eagles as he snared 4/8 from 6.3 overs, while Pick bowled an incredibly economical spell to took 3/7 from his nine overs. 

Stirling wasted no time in the run chase with Sean McCullum and skipper Jack Read putting on 50 runs for the first wicket off just 25 balls before McCullum went for 16 (12 balls). Read was unstoppable as he brought up the winning runs in just the ninth over with his third consecutive ‘maximum’, as he finished on 49 not out from 21 balls (3 x 4’s, 5 x 6’s). Lachlan Knight (1/17) was the sole wicket taker for Scott Creek Ironbank. 

Stirling’s depth with the ball shone out in the finals as they took 20 wickets for just 140 runs in their two finals, while it was a great way for Fryer to finish his ‘A’ grade career at Stirling with a second premiership.