A gutsy and driven stand from Clyde pushed the Cougars back into winning ways over Officer on day two of round seven of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) Premier Division.
The task on paper heading into day two seemed simple as Clyde required just 80 runs with all 10 wickets in hand.
But as they have all season, the Bullants battled valiantly with youngster Lachie James breaking through three times in the first nine overs of the day, dismissing Kane Avard (16), Shamil Samarasinghe (7) and the dangerous Trevor Bauer (13).
At that stage, the visitors were 3/55, having resumed at 0/29 on day two, requiring 109 for victory.
Ryan Adams then stepped to the crease and batted aggressively, getting behind stray balls and blasting boundaries.
Ramneet Dhindsa (22) was the next man to depart, causing Adams to shift his game to ensure his side could reach the total.
But there were more twists and Ash Smith had his say, bowling Luke Kerford (1), Yashan Gunasinghage (0) and Brett Reid (0) within 15 balls of each other, suddenly pushing the Cougars to 7/90.
Ryan Adams and brother Max dug deep to bring the scores level before Max (7) departed, followed by Ryan hitting the winning runs.
The visitors declared at 9/135, leaving them time for a potential outright win.
But the hosts safely batted out 21 overs to end the day, ending 0/40 with Bill Carlyle on 22 not out and Cooper Pursell posting 16 not out.
Adams (43) top scored for Clyde and became monumental in clawing out the result.
Smith nabbed 4/28 from 12 overs and James ended with 4/37 off 13 overs.
After a wet week one, the Cougars were happy to roll Officer for 108 and set up an eventual successful chase.
“We bowled pretty good lines and areas to be honest but with the conditions our quicks weren’t bowling off full run-ups,” Cougars coach Chris Jarrett said of day one.
“To be still able to get them out for that score we were pretty happy with considering the ball got pretty wet.
“Officer made us work, jeez they bowled well and fielded really well.
“They were fantastic and we really had to pull out everything we had to make those runs.
“If it wasn’t for Ryan’s knock it could’ve been a different story.
“He batted phenomenally, early on he went hard when we had the wickets in hand but when we lost a few he just built the runs for the rest of the innings until we got past.
“It was a really smart knock by him, very mature.”
The victory sees Clyde move into fifth, even on points with both Pakenham and Upper Beaconsfield.
It also snaps a two-game losing streak that leaves the Cougars at 3-4 after seven rounds.
Encouragingly, Clyde is 2-1 in two-day matches but just 1-3 in the 40 over format.
The finals race is still completely up for grabs, with a one-day matchup this weekend at home against the Lions pivotal for seeding.
“It gets our confidence up again and shows that we can win hard,” Jarrett reflected.
“We’re always happy with wins because we know how tight it is in the middle.
“It’s tight, it’s hard, but it’s good cricket.
“It’s awesome to watch and it’s good to be a part of, it’s a great competition.
“Officer were very good and we had to really grind it out to get the win so to be able to do that, it gets our confidence up again.
“Pakenham had a fantastic win on the weekend so they’re going to be up and about as well.
“It just shows it’s all hands on deck, it’s exciting.
“We’re going to have to be at our very best.
“They’ve shown that they’re a good side so it’s going to be tough.
“We go back to white ball cricket, which is always difficult for the first six to seven overs where the ball goes straight up and down.
“We have to make sure our bowling areas are in the right spot and bowling to the field.
“And if we bat early, we need to put some pressure on with the bat and keep wickets in hand to make a good score, we’re going to have to be at our best.
“We’ll consolidate what we’re doing, keep doing what we’re doing and I think we’re going in the right direction.”
