The Fleurieu & Districts Zone Junior Cricket Grand Finals were played on Sunday (23 February) with Torrens Valley Cricket Association (TVCA) winning the Under 21’s (Figg Cup), Great Southern Cricket Association (GSCA) won the Under 15’s (Calaby Shield) while the Under 13’s (Fuller Shield) title went to the Hills Cricket Association (HCA). All three finals were tight affairs with all three sides batting first winning.

In the under 21’s at Lenswood Oval, Torrens Valley came ‘back from the dead’ to defeat Hills for the second year in a row, this time by just 18 runs. Hills appeared to be cruising to victory as they made their way to 4/137 in pursuit of TVCA’s innings of 167 until they suffered a dramatic collapse to lose their last 6/12 to be bowled out for 149 in the 37th over. Brayden Coulthard (4/19) and Angus Shapley (3/27) were the stars with the ball for Torrens Valley. Liam Winskill (62 not out) batted beautifully for Hills but was left stranded at the end while Hills skipper Josh Callaghan chimed in with 37 before being run out. Earlier, Torrens Valley were in good shape as they made their way to 1/84 before Hills got on top with the ball through Ryan Grimmond who took 6/34 (10) in a great spell of bowling. Jack Walton with 2/28 (9.3) provided good support for Grimmond. TVCA skipper Jack Druwitt top scored with 37 (28 balls) with opening batsmen James Nyvit (36) and Jack Roesler (24) providing excellent support. 167 didn’t seem enough for Torrens Valley to go back-to-back but they never gave up and pulled off an incredible win.

Great Southern defeated Murray Towns by 25 runs to win the under 15’s at Burgess Oval in Mount Compass. GSCA batted first and managed to fight their way to a total of 128 before being bowled out in the 40th over. The innings was held together by Rilee Endersby (38) and Rory Long (23) who added 29 runs for the fourth wicket after Great Southern had slipped to 3/34. Endersby also combined with Scott Graham (10) to put on a crucial 33 runs for the eighth wicket. Fraser McDonald (3/1) and Bradley Towill (3/15) were best with the ball for the MTCA. Murray Towns began their run chase shakily as they fell to 3/26 before Max Loller (26), Chad Reschke (21) and Towill (17) got their side back into the game. Fine bowling from Endersby (4/9) and Finn Magor (4/9) proved too much for Murray Towns in the end as they were bowled out in the 43rd over for 103 to give Great Southern a well deserved title.

Hills won their second under 13’s title in a row after a hard fought 15-run victory over Alexandra & Eastern Hills at Meadows Oval. In a game dominated by the bowlers, Hills batted first and posted 9/109 from their 40 overs. After a solid opening partnership of 32 between Lucas Green (18) and Liam Kemp (10), Henry McGregor took over as he made an aggressive 29 from 33 balls. Other contributions from Mitch Marsh (15) and Oliver Clements (10) lifted the HCA to a competitive total. Jack Kranz (4/26) and Noah Dunn (3/17) were the chief destroyers for Alexandra & Eastern Hills. The AEHCA run chase started badly as they slumped to 5/36 before Connor Burgess (22) and Levi Llewellyn (15) added 43 for the sixth wicket to get their team right back in the hunt. However once these two were dismissed, the end came quickly with the last five wickets falling for just 15 runs as AEHCA were bowled out in the 39th over for 94. McGregor continued his fine match to take 3/20 (6.5) and he was well supported by Green who finished with 3/16 (8), as Hills celebrated back-to-back Fuller Shield triumphs.