History has not been kind to the Williamstown Colts.
Hanni Harb, the Colts captain and president, wants to write a new chapter.
He wants a ‘1’ in the empty box next to the club’s Williamstown and District Cricket Association A turf premierships tally, sooner rather than later.
“We’ve never won an A turf flag in our history,” Harb said.
“You can understand the importance for me as president of the club, and now captain of the team, to do it.
“I’ve been fighting for one of these for a long, long time and we’ve probably got our best opportunity this year to get one. ”
The Colts entered the final round in a pole position and cannot be dislodged.
They will go to the finals as the No.1-ranked team in the competition, riding an eight-game winning streak. Their last defeat was way back on Melbourne Cup weekend.
Harb is reading little into what has gone before and knows the top finals ranking will be irrelevant when the first ball is bowled in the semi-finals.
“Finals are a different game,” he said. “You see so many times that teams stumble at the last hurdle and lose in the semi-final.
“You’ve got to bring your A-game, there’s no doubt about it.”
The Colts, at their best, will strangle the life out of any batting line-up.
They have four bowlers who have each taken more than 15 wickets: Tarlok Sangha (26 wickets at 12.96), Nat Ward (18 at 10.22), Abhi Shauma (18 at 12.39) and Rauf Bodla (15 at 11.40). If we’re able to get anywhere over 160 or 180 on the board I’d back our team any day of the week to defend it,” Harb said.
The Colts are no slouch with the bat in hand either, scoring the second-most runs in the competition.
All-rounder Shauma is a big reason why, having made 395 runs at 35.91 to be the leading run maker in the division.
Will Phillips’ (288 at 48) contribution in just six games has also been telling.
In their final round encounter with Melton Centrals on Saturday, the Colts, led by Robert Harb (40), posted 203.
Centrals, needing an outright to remain in the finals conversation, were 2-13 at stumps.
