Canberra Cavalry rely on Steven Chambers for spot in ABL championship series

That job is sending the Cavalry to the ABL championship series when he takes to the mound in game three of the semi-final against the Adelaide Giants.

The Giants took out game two 5-2 in Adelaide on Saturday night to level the series at one a piece and send it to a winner-takes-all decider.

Whoever wins will face the Melbourne Aces, after they beat the Auckland Tuatara 6-2 in Auckland to claim the other semi-final.

With a raft of his starting options recalled to their clubs in Japan and the USA, Steve Kent and Chambers are Ward's only remaining pitchers who have started a game this season.

But Kent pitched three innings on Friday night, putting the ball in Chambers' mit.

Ward had every confidence in the 29-year-old Queenslander.

"Chambers will start [Sunday] and we'll hope to get a couple of innings out of him," he said.

"I'm confident he'll do a really good job here. He pitched here for a bunch of years and had some quality numbers here.

"So we think he can get us off to a good start and hopefully we can score some runs for him and hand it over to the bullpen and let those guys keep doing what they've been doing."

Frank Gailey backed up with just three days' rest to start game two for the Cavalry and he produced a gutsy performance.

He found himself in trouble early, but the longer he went the stronger he seemed to become.

The 34-year-old got through six innings of work, giving up eight hits and three runs, while producing five strikeouts.

He gave up two runs in the bottom of the second and another in the fifth.

Gailey was helped out by a great Tucker Nathans throw from the outfield to catch a runner out at the plate.

"Typical Frank. He'll go out there and just throw and throw and throw and execute his pitches," Ward said.

"To come out of the ballgame 3-2 [down] after six innings was just amazing on his behalf.

"He gave us a real chance to not only win that ballgame, but also save our bullpen arms for [Sunday]. Really, really big on his behalf."

The Giants seem to have a problem keeping their legs together.

In consecutive nights their outfielders allowed ground balls to roll between their legs with the Cavalry scoring in the process.

This time a Zach Wilson line drive embarrassed Adelaide centre-fielder Aaron Whitefield, allowing Cam Warner and Nathans to level the scores in the top of the third.

But Whitefield was able to make up for the error - with a sacrifice fly to put them back in front and then a solo home run to double the lead.

Now it all comes down to Sunday, where the Cavalry might have a slight edge in seeing possible Adelaide starter Tyler Beardsley after he pitched one inning out of the bullpen.

AT A GLANCE

CAVALRY 002 000 000 2R 8H 0E

GIANTS 020 010 02x 5R 11H 1E