mmg.com.au

Mooroopna is the first team through to Cricket Shepparton’s Twenty20 final after finishing on top of the competition A ladder.

It took a huge weekend of cricket for the Cats to earn their place with two rounds for competition A played on Sunday.

Mooroopna, Kialla and Karramomus played two matches each and Kyabram and Tatura played one match each and had a bye.

The Cats needed to win their matches against the Knights and the Bloods, and win them comfortably, to progress.

Mooroopna beat Kialla by 21 runs and followed up with a three-wicket win against Karramomus.

The Cats and the Bloods finished level on points, but Mooroopna won through to the final with a superior net run-rate.

This will be the first time they have played in the Twenty20 final since it began in 2007-08 and captain Brenton Campbell said the players were excited about the opportunity.

Paul Wickham was a standout after taking seven wickets for the day, including 4-11 from three overs against the Bloods, as well as making 29 runs in the two games.

Paul Marshall made 66 runs in two matches and took two wickets against Karramomus, and Rhys Taylor took four wickets, including 3-21 against the Bloods when he also made 24 runs.

Campbell, who made 53 not out against Kialla, said it was good to keep Karramomus to a 93-run total after it had made 242 against Tatura, including 149 to captain Chris Keady, who the Cats caught out for 40.

‘‘The boys just kept fighting, which is the way we go about things,’’ Campbell said.

The Twenty20 final is scheduled to be played at Deakin Reserve on December 9.

Mooroopna will face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Old Students and Northerners in competition B’s final round.

The Students will go in as ladder-leaders, but the Northerners will draw level on points if it wins and already has a better net run-rate.

Central Park-St Brendan’s has won the Twenty20 competition four years in a row, but is too far behind in points in competition B to proceed.

‘‘We’ve played a fair bit of cricket lately, so a couple of boys are pretty tired,’’ Campbell said.

‘‘We’ve played a lot of different players, so we have got a lot to pick from, which is a good sign and I am sure everyone will be available for the final.’’