BDCA finals: Bunbury captain Blair Malatesta bowls Collie to fourth consecutive second grade premiership

One of the club’s all-time greats has helped Collie fight their way back into the grand final and win a fourth consecutive second grade premiership. After an unlikely failure with the bat, Bunbury captain and Collie legend Blair Malatesta spun his way through the Marist middle order, finishing with a four-wicket haul and a premiership medal. He dismissed gun number three Lee Sorfleet, who has averaged more than 40 this season, skipper Blaze Rosinski, preliminary final match-winner Jordan Stynes and Jeremy Princi in a stunning 10-over spell that also included two maidens. Steven Ireland took two early wickets and Zac Reuben took another two of his own, while Rosinski was the only real resistance for the Blues. Chasing 177, the Blues found themselves in a hole at 3-18, but the game was in the balance again when Rosinski helped them climb to 4-71. Sorfleet took 62 balls to make his 19 before he became the fifth wicket to fall and only Strath Papandroulakis (21) and Adam Spinelli (13) looked any chance of getting Marist close, before they fell 40 runs short. Earlier, opening the batting together, brothers Brayden and Austin Kent both gave away solid starts, before Malatesta’s two off 15 balls had Collie behind the eight-ball. Mark Williams’ 24 kept them in the hunt before Josh Elliot’s 23 and late hitting from Bailey Moloney (34 off 32) helped them to a defendable total.