By Jonty Ralphsmith
Full and straight.
That was Saturday’s nine-wicket recipe for success for Devon Meadows B Grade cricketer Nathan Kleinig.
The right arm pace bowler picked up the first nine wickets of his team’s bowling innings to have Cranbourne Meadows reeling at 9/71 in their CCCA clash.
Kleinig then took the catch to dismiss the final batter, top-scorer Vishal Sharma, off the bowling of Callum Cavanagh to have Cranbourne Meadows all out for 77.
The Balnarring junior, who has been at Devon Meadows since the 2019-20 season, finished with the sensational figures of 9/37 off 12 overs.
The traditional inswingers came out of the hand well and his sideways movement through the air was aided by a breeze.
With catches being dropped up the other end, where Thomas Rowe helped build pressure from the outset, he said all he did was put the ball on his spot and it all came together.
“I bowled pretty well,” he said.
“I got lucky they missed a few balls, I bowled full and straight and it worked.
“There was a few plans we put in place.
“One batter was walking up the pitch so I bowled a bouncer and had him caught behind; another batter was aggressive so I bowled back of a length and had him caught behind and with another batter, I could tell there was a gap between bat and pad so I changed the way I bowled to target that.
“I try and figure out what they like and don’t like – usually it’s a pretty slow ground so if they’re able to drive me for four they can have it, but most of the time people don’t.
“There was some good bowling, but because it’s only B Grade sometimes the really good bowlers don’t get wickets whereas bowling full and straight works.
“The first three wickets were real key because it broke it up a little bit then got down to the tail and I kept bowling.”
To top the game off, the all-rounder this week has the opportunity to win the game for Devon Meadows.
As good as his bowling performance was, the Panthers followed it up with a meek showing with bat in hand, losing their first seven wickets for just 48 runs.
Batting at seven, Kleinig is unbeaten on six, the team needing 22 more runs to secure victory on the slow outfield of Lawson Poole Reserve.
“It doesn’t feel like it has hit me the way it should,” he said of the stunning feat.
“Maybe after the game it will impact depending on the result.
“They’re a really good bowling attack.
“One of their bowlers was swinging it both ways.
“We’ve still got to get more than 20 runs on a slow ground so there’s still work to do.”
The work may not yet be fully complete, but regardless, Nathan Kleinig will remember his nine-wicket haul against the Rebels forever.
