T20 Final Preview – Wednesday 28th January AUCC Premier Men v Eden Roskill – Keith Hay Park, 5.30pm The first silverware of the season is up for grabs tomorrow evening when our Premier Men`s side take on Eden Roskill in the T20 Plate Final at Keith Hay Park. Varsity`s road to the final began with a tough encounter against East Coast Bays at Colin Maiden Park two weeks ago. Bays are perennial contenders in all three formats but our boys proved too strong as half centuries from Barrington Rowland and Aditya Dhadwal propelled Varsity to a total of 169/4 to which the visitors could only reply with 138 as Anthony Ireland and Vishi Jeet each claimed three wickets. Ireland and Jeet were in the wickets again in the semi-finals against Grafton United. Varsity`s overseas pro was one of the leading wicket takers in the English domestic T20 competition last year and he showed why with an impressive haul of 4/22, while Auckland `A` spinner Jeet claimed 3/12 as Grafton were dismissed for 101. Despite falling to 61/5 Varsity never looked in danger chasing the score and unbeaten 35 from just 29 balls from Richard Sillars helped secure a five-wicket victory and a spot in the final. Tomorrow`s hosts have struggled for form in both the one and two-day competitions this season but comfortable victories over North Shore and Hibiscus Coast ensured them a home T20 final. Roskill strength lies in their bowling attack which is led by Azhar Abbas, a former first class cricketer, who is the premier grade`s second leading wicket taker this season and Auckland `A` seamer Brett Randell. While Roskill`s weak link is arguably their batting they did amass over 300 on Saturday afternoon on day one of their two-day match with Waitakere City and have an experienced T20 International player in Andrew Mansale at the top of the order who captain`s the Vanuatu National team in limited over competitions across the world. Varsity skipper Vamshi Puppala has named a strong side for the encounter with Josh Fisher and Finn Allen coming into the side after returning from successful National Tournament campaigns in Auckland`s U19 & 17 sides respectively. Play gets underway at 5.30pm and the squad would appreciate all support in their quest to secure the first trophy of the season. Road to the Final: Quarter-final AUCC Premier Men 169/4 (B Rowland 69, Adi Dhadwal 58) defeated East Coast Bays 138 (A Ireland 3/27, V Jeet 3/32, R Sillars 2/18) by 31 runs. Full Scorecard: https://www.crichq.com/#matches/214848/1st_innings Semi-final Grafton United 101 (A Ireland 4/22, V Jeet 3/12) lost to AUCC Premier Men 102/5 (R Sillars 35no, B Rowland 21) by five wickets. Full Scorecard: https://www.crichq.com/#matches/217060/1st_innings AUCC T20 Final Team: Barrington Rowland Beau Dench (wk) Aditya Dhadwal Vamshi Puppala © Finn Allen Richard Sillars Vishi Jeet Josh Fisher Vedant Zaveri Anthony Ireland Warren Barnes Rishikesh Umasuthan (12th man)