By Jonty Ralphsmith
If there was a win predictor trying to determine the outcome of Parkfield’s clash with Cranbourne it would have smashed to smithereens in the final hour.
There seemed to be a momentum-shifter every few balls in the rain-shortened 28-over per side DDCA Turf 2 contest.
Each of debutant Harsaroup Singh’s seven boundaries in his 61 not out seemed to signify that if he batted through, Cranbourne – like all good teams do – would find their way to victory.
But, caught up the non-striker’s end for the final two legal deliveries, after taking a single midway through the final over, meant there would be no grandstand finish for the visitors.
“Watching him early in the innings gave me great confidence for later in the innings,” Cranbourne captain Mick Sweeney said.
“I commented to the boys when there were 18 balls left, if Harsaroup can face 12 of these balls, we’ll win this game, unfortunately he faced about six so that was the difference.
“A fantastic debut but not unsurprising – he has trained with us for well over a month now so we had an impression of his ability.”
Having bowled only two of the first 25 overs, Hansika Hodikara bowled two of the final three including the final one which was an outstanding display of clutch skill execution.
Kodikara mixed a searing yorker with subtle deception and then delivered the final three balls well wide of off stump to get out of the striker’s hitting zone – a tactic employed successfully.
Needing 60 off the last 48, and 36 off 24, Cranbourne did well to get so close, particularly given Mick and Peter Sweeney had no say in it, falling cheaply.
But having already batted 13.2 of their overs and setting a strong 45-over platform, Parkfield was up against it given the absence of a Duckworth-Lewis System in the DDCA.
The hosts’ score would not be increased after the rain delay so with the score at 0/43 at the resumption, they needed to significantly up the tempo.
Dishan Malalasekera made 51, a knock that contained just one boundary, with his busy approach at the crease epitomising the Parkfield innings which spiked the run-rate to 6.22 in the overs faced post the rain delay.
Chasing 129 for victory Singh, batting at three, was the anchor of the innings who needed to become the big hitter at the death.
The pendulum seemed to be slanting Parkfield’s way when spinners Travis D’Souza and Nick Jeffrey bowled the 18th, 19th and 20th over, all which conceded just one run to have the visitors needing to go at almost eight per over.
But when D’Souza was launched for a big six over mid on by Singh, and Jeffrey bowled three consecutive balls down legside, the following over to Justin Dickinson conceded 10 runs and Cranbourne was back in it.
Ultimately, there were enough good balls and when wicket opportunities presented themselves, they were taken, giving Parkfield a tight win.
It’s a result which could prove important for the hosts, given a loss would have seen them sitting 0-2; instead they get a positive result on a day when four teams had their matches abandoned and during a period star all-rounder Matt Goodier is missing with a minor injury.
“You could see in the eyes of the boys today they were more engaged and had a purpose,” the skipper said.
“Cranbourne are a fantastic side so to get them on a day where conditions are against us, shortened game, rain delay, split innings, to come away with the win is huge and it is a morale builder.
“We will take much more than the points out of this.
“I just love the fact that guys keep stepping up.”
THE FINAL TWO OVERS
OVER 27 – 16 needed for victory
• Medium-pacer and skipper Stephen Cannon to lower-order striker Jakeb Thomas. Simple catch at short cover by Travis D’Souza as Thomas guides it straight to the fielder. 16 needed off 11.
• Cannon to tailender Tim Fathers, dot ball. 16 needed off 10.
• Cannon to Tim Fathers, gets bat on it and Singh scampers through for a comfortable quick single. 15 needed off 9.
• Cannon bowls a fullish wide ball outside off stump which Singh leaves, expecting a wide call which isn’t forthcoming. 15 needed off eight.
• Cannon bowls a slot ball which Singh cleanly despatches over a vacant cow corner for a big six. 9 needed off seven.
• Cannon deceives Singh with a slight changeup, the batter swinging just as hard as the previous ball but unable to get bat on it. Nine needed off six.
OVER 28 – Nine needed for victory
• Fast bowler Hansika Hodikara to Tim Fathers, swing and a miss, Singh backs up aggressively but elects to not try to scamper through for a bye. Nine off five.
• Hodikara to Fathers middled straight to short cover but it bursts through the fielders’ hands and trickles to within a metre of the rope and the batters sprint three – the perfect result with Singh back on strike. Six off four.
• Hodikara to Singh, no run, perfect leg-stump yorker which is well kept out but the batter can do nothing with it but fend it to mid-on, who throws it to the bowler for an easy run-out given Fathers’ backing-up. Six off three.
• Hodikara to Singh, one run, an intriguing single, one which was definitely on under normal circumstances as it made midwicket move a little bit. But the single piled the pressure onto new lower-order batter Jakeb Thomas, yet to face a ball. Five off two.
• Hodikara to Thomas no run, a fullish wide ball left alone by the batter who was expecting a wide call which was not forthcoming. Five off one (four to tie).
• Hodikara to Thomas, wide. Thomas nearly swings himself off his feet but can’t reach a ball well wide of the off-stump. As the umpires call a wide, the batters flirt with the idea of taking a single, but decide against it. The alert keeping of Emmal Mayadunne nearly caused a run-out. Thomas, who had taken strides up the wicket, needed to dive back to make his ground as the bails were taken off. Four to win (three to tie).
• Hodikara to Thomas, one bye, a similar line to the previous two balls, and again a swing and a miss from Thomas. Parkfield allow Cranbourne to take a bye not wanting to risk overthrows.
ENERGETIC PARKFIELD
The club made it a focus going into the game and it was obvious from ball one.
Openers Malalasekera and Nathaniel Cramer were busy, looking for singles and putting pressure on the infield.
From the sidelines, the Bears were vocal with encouragement for the batters.
In the field, they held their catches: Cramer took an excellent catch going back with the flight to dismiss Matt Collett; Riley Payne took a similar catch to dismiss Dean McDonnell; then, most impressively, at point, Malalasekera leapt for a catch, taken at full stretch to get the big wicket of Mick Sweeney.
Perhaps the exception to that was when there was a rare no-ball due to an extra fielder out on the boundary at one stage in the 26th over, bowled by Kodikara.
TIM FATHERS
Plays and misses, – lots of them – tight lines and dot balls.
It was a pressure-inducing seven over spell upfront, in overcast conditions as rain came down, by Tim Fathers, who didn’t let the wet and slippery kookaburra affect his accuracy.
The only thing that was missing was a wicket, Fathers finishing with 0/11 off his seven overs.
After being used in a different role last week, Fathers was back opening the bowling against Parkfield, like he did effectively last season even if he lacked reward.
Cranbourne captained Mick Sweeney praised his selflessness and partnership bowling in the preseason, noting how highly he is valued despite not getting a wicket prior to Christmas.
When waiting to come in at number five and watching openers Dean McDonell and Matt Collett pursue the total, Sweeney said it was just about as well as he’s seen Fathers bowl.
The additions of Jayden Scotland and Jakeb Thomas have created more hype around Cranbourne’s fast bowling stocks, but Fathers still poses a major threat with his effort and intensity.
Hopefully for his, and Cranbourne’s, sake he gets the wickets he deserves in the coming weeks.
RAIN DELAY
Game on.
That was the proverbial coming from both Parkfield and Cranbourne dressing rooms during a two-hour delay caused as much by a dangerously wet and slippery channel alongside the wicket square as the rain.
Between the rain which had run off the square in the preceding days, to that which fell steadily in the first 13 overs and what was deposited there when the covers were removed, the accumulated surface water seemed it would lead to the game being abandoned.
At times it seemed that players and umpires were waiting around as a formality, as two-and-a-half hours of play need to be lost for a game to be called off but the blowy conditions and both teams’ willingness to play meant the umpires were satisfied for play to proceed with 28 overs per team.
Cranbourne was pushing harder to return to play, given Parkfield was disadvantaged, but the hosts were also keen, the skipper taking the approach that any cricket is better than none at all.
That mentality catalysed the backs-to-the-wall victory.
“I would rather play the game of cricket and fight rather than trying to coerce the umpire to call the game off because it is wet when I actually don’t believe it is dangerous,” Cannon said.
SPINNERS STALL CRANBOURNE
Travis D’Souza and Nick Jeffrey kept Cranbourne at bay during the middle overs in an excellent bowling partnership which put the pressure on the batters at the death.
The pair bowled 13 overs between them, mostly in tandem and successfully stalled the run-rate.
With the field slow and fielders well-spread, boundaries were hard to come by, and with wickets falling frequently, incoming batters were given little to work with by the tweakers.
They claimed three wickets between them including Jeffrey getting the big scalp of Mick Sweeney caught on the mid-on fence and went at an economy rate of 3.8 as the run-rate headed north of six.
