GEELONG’S Premier Men Thirds have fallen short in a high-scoring grand final, going down to Melbourne by 41 runs at Beaumaris Secondary College.<\/p>\n
The Cats enjoyed a dream run to the grand final, charging through from fourth spot, but were unable to topple the ladder leaders, who had lost just one game all season.<\/p>\n
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Geelong made an encouraging start, reducing Melbourne to 3\/48 as Will Rodda dismissed Brendan Reddell.<\/p>\n
Melbourne then steadied through the middle order, batting deep into the innings to post 9\/326 from 106 overs.<\/p>\n
Kyle Bienefelt and Lachlan Watson took three wickets apiece, while Paawan Sharma added two of his own.<\/p>\n
With a large target ahead of them, the Cats lost three early wickets to be 4\/200 as Corey Paull was dismissed for 46.<\/p>\n
Opener Jake Klein made a valiant 126 from 206 balls, but was bowled out, leaving Geelong at 5\/238.<\/p>\n
Once Klein fell, Melbourne’s classy bowling attack demolished the bottom order, bowling the Cats out for 285 in the 82nd over.<\/p>\n
Despite the result, Geelong will take plenty of positives from the performance against a quality opponent as they look ahead to the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEELONG’S Premier Men Thirds have fallen short in a high-scoring grand final, going down to Melbourne by 41 runs at Beaumaris Secondary College. The Cats enjoyed a dream run to the grand final, charging through from fourth spot, but were unable to topple the ladder leaders, who had lost just one game all season. After […]<\/p>\n