Sydney University Cricket Club’s Third Grade side will host Manly Warringah at University Oval in the final of the Mitchell Cup for the 2023-24 season after the two teams won their respective semi-finals at the weekend.
Having been sent in to bat by Northern District at University Oval, the Students rattled up 302 on the back of No.4 Henry Snyman’s 89, which included 12 boundaries. After a 64-run opening stand between Milan Swaraj (37) and Thomas Siede (21), Snyman shared a 121-run stand with Matthew Powys (33) before the late order of Shivam Wadhera (32) and Prakhar Sharma (24) helped the score past the 300 mark.
Sydney University then rolled the visitors for 128 off 40.4 overs, with Thomas Siede (2-12), skipper Josh Toyer (2-16), Shivam Wadhera (2-25) and Darcy Manners (2-35) sharing the bowling honours, while William Coffey top-scored with 26. Manly Warringah accounted for Eastern Suburbs by six wickets in the other semi-final played at Graham Reserve.
Sydney University Thirds only lost one game during the 16 round season proper – a Round 12 match against Bankstown at University Oval – to claim the minor premiership by a hefty margin. The Students finished the season on 88 points, with Manly Warringah (73), Eastern Suburbs (71), Northern District (69), Parramatta (68) and St George (67) making up the top six. They then accounted for St George with a 58-run result at University Oval in their qualifying final to move to the semi-final.
Sydney University’s Fourth and Fifth Grades made it through to the qualifying finals where their seasons came to an end. Fourths suffered with a six-wicket loss to Northern District in their Reid Cup clash at Storey Park, while the Fifths went down by 183 runs to Manly Warringah in their Sherwood Cup match at Blacktown International Sports Park.
The Thirds will now carry the banner for SUCC in the two-day final at University Oval on Saturday and Sunday.
