U-Syd's goal of claiming the Red Bull T20 Campus Cricket Tournament at the Australian University Games is one step closer to reality after accounting for arch rival UNSW in today's final preliminary round match.
Yet again batting first, U-Syd was uncharacteristically in trouble early, falling to 3-30 from 6 overs. This was before Dugald "The Chaz" Holloway, borrowed some of his older brother's form from early in the week to top-score with 62 from 52 balls. His display of power-hitting was well supported by both Joe Kershaw (26 from 11) and Jack Remond (22 from 20) to post a highly competitive 7-144 from their 20 overs.
Kershaw and fellow quick Jim Ryan applied the brakes early but were unable to land the killer blow with UNSW pushing to 0-30 from 6 overs. That blow came soon though as Brodie Frost, widely regarded as having the worst haircut on the Gold Coast (which is a big achievement given the 9,000 students currently there), entered the fray. Whether the haircut made any impact or not, he finished his spell of 4 overs with 3-12 next to his name. Some lower order hitting from UNSW gave the scoreline some respectability but were never near enough to trouble, eventually falling 11 runs shy.
The win means U-Syd finishes top of their pool with UNSW the other team to progress to the semi-finals. UNSW will take on fellow powerhouse UTS whilst U-Syd will need to be on their game up against the only non-Sydney team left, QUT. The winner of these matches will face off in the final at 2pm on Friday.