A MIRACULOUS last-round victory has put South Wagga in the mood to break its Wagga Cricket Association premiership drought, according to Blues skipper Joel Robinson.
South Wagga stormed into the WCA finals series starting on Saturday by beating Kooringal Colts by 10 runs at Robertson Oval at the weekend.
The only one of three first grade matches to be played on Saturday, South Wagga's match was highlighted by a stunning bowling display by Colts paceman Djali Bloomfield.
In a commanding performance, Bloomfield finished with seven wickets for 17 runs, but even his heroics were not enough to deny the Blues.
With Bloomfield leading the charge as South Wagga was restricted to a paltry 73 runs, the Colts batsmen failed to capitalise on the advantage.
After the start of the day's play was delayed for an hour to allow the ground to recover from overnight rain, Kooringal Colts was mercilessly bundled out for just 63 runs.
The Colts run-chase started miserably, with the team 3-20 before Brendan O'Reilly tried to salvage something from the wreck.
O'Reilly scored 31 runs before he was bowled by Kurt Robertson and the Colts' innings was as good as over.
Robinson yesterday described the match as "pretty weird".
"We resumed at 4-55 but lost three quick wickets," Robinson said.
"We were 7-64 before we knew it."
As Bloomfield blasted out the rest of the Blues batsmen, Robinson did not lose sight of the team pulling off a remarkable success.
"The last time we played them (Colts) we bowled them out for 98," Robinson said.
"I always thought we were half a chance."
Robinson said South Wagga had steadily chomped away at the Colts' batting line-up, which was minus Brendan Hackett and Andrew Bowden.
"Wickets just kept falling continuously," he said.
"It really kept us in the hunt."
Speedster Scott Pople was a spearhead for the Blues, capturing 3-19 off 10 blistering overs, while Lachlan Bushby claimed 3-17.
For South Wagga, the stunning win allowed the team to cement second spot behind South Wagga on the WCA table.
Heading into a major semi-final duel with the Bulldogs next weekend, Robinson said the Blues were in the best possible mental shape.
"I think we'll have taken a bit of confidence (from the match)," Robinson said.
"We showed we can defend a small total."
South Wagga is chasing its first WCA title since 2003-04, which was also the last time the team played in the grand final.
The Blues are regarded as the danger to Wagga RSL's bid for a WCA premiership hat-trick.