Attempting to defend 62 runs against a home side with eight wickets remaining, most pundits would have felt Parkes’ title hopes were over.

But, the team did not give up and what came next captain Anthony Heraghty described as the best district cricket moment he had been a part of.

Parkes claimed the remaining wickets with six runs to spare and stormed into this Sunday’s grand final against Dubbo.

Arguably the two powerhouses of Western cricket, Parkes and Dubbo have featured prominently in WZPL deciders.

In the past, matches have been high-quality affairs and Sunday’s blockbuster looks to be no different.

While Parkes had to fight tooth and nail to win their semi-final, Dubbo enjoyed a cake-walk win over Blue Mountains.

Dubbo also enjoyed a win over Parkes when the two sides met in the round matches.

Parkes will be hoping to reverse the result in Dubbo this Sunday and captain Anthony Heraghty believes his side is more than capable of bringing the trophy back home.

“We are pretty comfortable playing over there,” Heraghty said. 

“The wickets are nice and flat which will suit our batting techniques. 

“Having really good death bowlers like Phil Dunford and Blake Smith should bring the odds back in our favor with a bit of luck.

“Our game plan will be pretty simple.

“We will look to bat for the full 50 overs and post a reasonable total. 

“Our bowlers will try to be full and straight so a field can be set.

“If all goes to plan I’m pretty confident we can come back with the chocolates. 

“Our first 30 overs with the bat against Bathurst were great.

“We fell away a bit in the later overs which left us about 50 runs short of the total we should have posted. 

“Our death bowling was fantastic,” he said.

The man likely to prove the biggest hurdle in Parkes posting a total is Dubbo’s Sportsperson of the Year and Australian Country representative Tim Cox.

The right-arm quick enjoyed a superb Australian Country Championships in Bendigo where he was the standout bowler of the competition.

Backing up Cox will be Western Zone change bowler Tim Berry who can also be destructive.

When Dubbo are at the crease, Parkes will be hoping to mount pressure in circle in the first 20 overs.

Dubbo will be hoping to turn the strike over all the time so Parkes will need to be on their game early.

The Parkes squad for Sunday’s final is as follows:

Anthony Heraghty, Peter Yelland, Vince Umbers, Myles Smith, Luke Clarke, Hayden Sealy, Alex Umbers, Phil Dunford, Brent Tucker, Toby Nash, Blake Smith, and Mitch Wheeldon.