Melton finished its Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association Craig Shield campaign on a high.
Out of finals contention entering the final round of the group stage, the Lions won a thriller against Yarraville on Thursday.
With both sides out of finals contention, Lions coach Bill Clarke said it was an easy decision to shorten the game to 20 overs a side due to the heat.
“It was a terrific game,” Clarke said.
“It was common sense to play a T20 game. They made 6-127 and we managed to get the runs with three balls remaining.”
The Lions finished 4-130.
The win was the Lions fourth of the group stage and left them finishing third, three points behind second placed Werribee.
Clarke said he would have taken four wins from six games at the start of the carnival.
“To not make finals with four wins, is most unusual,” he said.
“A couple of teams who played on the Sunday [when the Lions had the bye] had their games washed out and they got three points each.
“If certain teams had have got the wins, we would have made finals.
“It’s a little disappointing not to make the finals, but we got the best out of ourselves.”
Clarke said skipper Jason Hibbert was the most consistent for the Lions across the group stage.
“There was some good cameo performances and a lot of the top order made 50s. It wasn’t the same people standing up every game
“Our bowling was consistent we a group.”
Clarke said one of the most pleasing things for the side was that they competed so well against some much bigger sides.
“We only had 14 boys to pick from and all 14 were picked,” he said.
“Some of the other teams were able to get players from other areas.
“When the guys stop and reflect back they will see how much they learnt and happy to get the wins we did.”
