By Tyler Lewis
“The guys were disappointed, any loss hurts… but specifically as close as that – off the last ball – it stings a bit more.”
Casey-South Melbourne coach Will Carr felt for his group, who didn’t do a lot wrong on Saturday.
After seven hours of cricket, 99.5 overs, it all came down to the final delivery of the day.
The Cats came into the final Luke Shelton over needing seven runs with six wickets in hand.
Shelton bowled his first five balls to perfection, leaking just three runs and managing to snare a wicket.
But with the final ball – the Cats needing four to win – Josh Larkin was able to split a gap down the ground, find the rope and secure a thrilling win.
The pain for the Swans was evident through the reaction of wicket-keeper Devin Pollock – who didn’t move a centimetre once the ball left the bat and streamed to the rope.
The truth is, the Casey-South Melbourne outfit played splendidly.
It got off to another terrific start through openers Luke Manders and Ashley Chandrasinghe and capitalised at the end, posting 242.
While the defeat cut deep, Carr was once again pleased by his opening pair at the top setting another sensational platform.
“They complement each other really well,” Carr said of his opening duo.
“Luke Manders has taken the more aggressive type role and Ash takes the anchor role.
“It lays a nice little platform for three, four and so on to come in and build on that.
“It’s what you want from your opening partnership, especially in a white ball game, to get you off to not only a quick start, but get through the power play at least.”
Despite the disappointment in losing such a close game clear in Carr’s voice, the Swans are taking positives out of a match that could’ve quite easily fallen its way.
“To be a bit a cliché, we take the positives out of it,” he said.
“Geelong are a hard side to beat down there, they have some good players.
“We will learn from that and be better for that; try and reflect on little moments in the game where we could’ve saved a run or two, or made (an extra) run or two.
“Once the pain subsides, we will be better for the experience,” Carr said.
Though no game in Premier Cricket is an easy win, the Swans will head in favourites in the next four fixtures, including Richmond this week at Central Reserve.
