By JARROD POTTER
STEVE Spoljaric might have saved his best for last.
The Cranbourne all-rounder made amends for the first innings in the DDCA Turf 1 grand final against Springvale South with one of those innings you’d have to see to believe in the second.
Captaining his second Turf 1 premiership, after winning with Parkfield in 2013/14, Spoljaric’s contribution sent the run-rate soaring as the Eagles fought their way back from the unlikeliest of positions early on day two.
After losing on the first innings, Cranbourne set up the chance for victory with incredible bowling from spinner Cam Dinger, but still needed to get a whopping 161 off only 27 overs at the end to seize the victory.
Spoljaric arrived at the crease 10 overs into the chase too – after opener Stuart Plunkett fell to Craig Slocombe – but he made the next 11 truly count.
He planted himself and swatted the Bloods into oblivion.
Spoljaric punished King in particular – taking the Springvale South all-rounder for three sixes in an over at the Cheltenham Road end, with one only just clearing Tim Ford on the boundary.
The field spread in a heartbeat when Spolly went on his rampage, but he still found the gaps, worked the singles and even played a few uncustomary ramp-shots to keep the score flowing.
When the dust on his incredible innings settled and Spoljaric walked back to the sheds, he had set the stage with 61 off 41 balls and put Cranbourne within striking distance of the flag.
“What can you say?,” Spoljaric said. “Just look at the scoreboard – it’s entertaining enough isn’t it?”
“I didn’t give us much hope because most of us were exhausted, but I said with (Cam) Dinger bowling the way he did today – all I did was catch them for him.
“I wasn’t confident at all – most of us were quite sore and couldn’t move too well, but big Dinger turned it and me and Cheeks (Chasemore) finished it off with the stick there.”
He trusted the openers to see off the shine then let himself and Chasemore hunt down the whale of a target.
“The ball for the first five or six overs was a bit tricky, but after that we did know what it would do – we bowled with it and knew it would be much flatter,” Spoljaric said. “You’ve just got to give me and Cheeks a target, freedom, then we can be big trouble to any attack and that’s what you saw today.”
Speculation is rife that Spoljaric – who has moved down to Gippsland and commutes back up to Cranbourne regularly – is set to farewell the competition after six phenomenal seasons.
“Like any job, you get a job and you’ve got to fulfil it and that’s it – maybe I can retire now,” Spoljaric said. “I don’t know yet – my wife won’t let me – I’ve got to play with the three year old now so we’ll just wait and see how we go.”
