THE South East representative side has signed off the senior country cricket carnival with a consolation final victory over Barossa and Light in Adelaide last Thursday.
The two teams finished second in their respective pools and went head-to-head in a battle for third place.
On the hunt for back-to-back titles, the South East was displaced by eventual champions Yorke Penisula in the minor rounds, while Barossa and Light finished behind runners-up Northern.
Barossa won the toss and opted to bat first, making its intentions clear early to put the pressure on the South East attack.
An opening century partnership from Sam Mattey and Jamie Diener looked ominous for the South East.
After all the South East bowlers toiled for more than half the innings with no reward, Matthew McInerney finally struck the much needed breakthrough when he had the big wicket of Diener caught for 109.
McInerney continued to put the pressure on the opposition from there to claim two more wickets shortly after, including Mattey for 31.
Robert Drenthen then ripped through the middle order with four quick wickets and chase was suddenly less daunting at 7/231.
A small cameo of 31 not out from Barossa’s Ashley Johnson saw the final score of 7/274 reached, which produced a challenging target for South East batsmen.
South East’s response with the bat was off to a bad start when Jase Bateman, Dylan Clough and Alex Stidiford all fell for single-figure scores.
Captain Jake Schutz (44), David Somerfield (29) and McInerney (28) steadied the ship somewhat, but failed to build on promising starts.
When Kieran Ashby joined Adam Somerfield at the crease, a South East win appeared improbable with close to 150 runs required and just four wickets in hand.
However, the pair constructed a century stand to turn the game around.
The duo reached their half centuries and crept closer to the victory target.
Despite the wicket of Adam Somerfield for 78, Ashby (74 not out) guided his side home with just two balls to spare.
The intense three-wicket win saw the South East finish on a high and claim third place overall for the carnival.
