The Panthers and the Blues have won their way through to the Vic SUPER SLAM Final next Sunday at the MCG by winning their Stars and Renegades Pool Finals today.
The Saints won their way through to the Stars Final by beating the Tigers in the Semi Final at the Junction Oval. Jonathan Merlo (65* off 59 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) and Damon Egan (22*) guided the Saints home with five balls to spare after the Tigers posted 121 batting first. Merlo earlier took 3/22 in the Tigers innings to record a fine double.
Over the road at the Harry Trott the Panthers held out the True Blues in a thriller, winning by just one run.
In the Stars Final at the Junction Oval, the Panthers batted first and tallied 9/140, Tom Donnell (51) top scoring. The Saints reply appeared on target with Jonathan Merlo (65 off 49 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes) again batting well, but from 4/97 the innings fell away, finishing at 9/127.
In the Renegades Pool, Semi Finals were played at Princes Park #1 and Uni Main Oval. At Carlton a rampant Evan Gulbis (89 off 50 balls, 7 fours, 6 sixes) guided his side home with six overs to spare after the Bombers scored a competitive target, with Aaron Ayre (53) and Aaron Shellie (57) scoring half-centuries.
At Uni, the Cats scored 5/168, with Josh McDonald (57 off 37 balls, 5 fours, 3 sixes) and Angus Boyd (40* off 24 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) doing best. Uni fell short despite skipper James McNeil's 51 (off 36 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes).
In the Renegades Final at Uni the Cats posted 6/145, with Tim Ludeman (44) and Richard Oliver (37*) doing best. The Blues chased this down, winning with two overs to spare, with Tom Smyth (70 off 51 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) the star.
The Vic SUPER SLAM Final will be played next Sunday at the MCG as the curtain-raiser to the Melbourne Stars match.