Senior country week: Bunbury’s Boan Cup bid falls short after seven-wicket semifinal loss to Geraldton

Bunbury’s bid to win back the Boan Cup fell short last week, with the Blue Swans failing to make the senior country week A-section final.

A loss to Upper Great Southern on Wednesday saw the side finish the pool stage in fourth, coming in behind Eastern Goldfields and Albany despite having the same win-loss record due to an inferior net run rate.

The finish gave them a tough semifinal task against on Thursday against eventual winners Geraldton, who beat them by seven wickets at Charles Veryard Reserve.

Bunbury’s batting issues again came to the fore as they were bowled out for a below-par 109, which the winners tracked down in the 36th over after a patient chase.

Geraldton were given the perfect start to the game by Country XI seamer Ringo McKenna, who bowled Nico Le Roux and pinned Vinnie Poller lbw in the first over to send the pair back without scoring.

When Kris Miller departed for four in the fourth over, the Blue Swans were in all sorts of early trouble at 3-7, and found themselves deeper in the mire at 4-30 after Corey Chantrill was given out caught behind for 12.

Bradman May and Ratha Alphonse set about the rebuild task, getting Bunbury’s innings away in earnest with a 68-run fifth-wicket stand.

But Alphonse’s departure for 16 was quickly followed by May’s for 59, with the lower order failing to provide much resistence as the Blue Swans endured a collapse of 6-11 which ended their batting effort.

May, who finished as the division’s leading run-scorer with 220 runs at an average of 55, was the side’s top scorer for the third time in four games.

Star Geraldton pair Zane Marwick (4-13 from 10 overs) and McKenna (4-26 from 8.3 overs) proved too much fo Bunbury to handle with the ball.

Captain Liam Renton took the new ball for the first time in the week and gave his side the best possible start from the first ball of the second innings, drawing an Adam Goacher edge into the slips where Bradman May plucked a spectacular catch.

But a 52-run stand between Zane Marwick and Jeremy Bedford gave Geraldton the momentum, which they did not surrender for the rest of the day.

Marwick, the eventual winner of the Barry Shepherd Medal as the best player of the carnival, led his side home with a gritty 46 not out from 115 balls.

Bunbury ended their week with a win on Friday, beating Eastern Goldfields by five wickets in the third-place playoff at Coker Park.

In a T20 match played at a more leisurely intensity than the previous games, the Blue Swans bowled their opponents out for 150 and tracked down their target inside 13 overs.

After a bowling innings which saw 10 players send down at least one over, Corey Chantrill ensured there was no time wasted in the chase, smacking eight sixes and four boundaries in an unbeaten 74 from just 30 deliveries.

Riley Stenhouse also impressed after being given an opportunity at the top of the order, making 29 from 19 balls.