By Marcus Uhe
At the start of the 90th and all-important final over at Shepley Oval on Saturday, the equation for both sides in Dandenong’s Premier Cricket clash with Camberwell was simple.
For the Panthers, a tenth wicket would secure victory in a remarkable comeback after what captain Brett Forsyth labelled a “brutal” day in the field, having fallen to the mercy of a 50 over, 171-run third wicket partnership that threatened to shut the door on any prospect of securing premiership points.
Camberwell, meanwhile, needed just three runs to secure a fourth victory for their campaign, and attempt to salvage some positivity from an otherwise unsuccessful season.
From 2/201 after 60 overs chasing 313, the grit shown by the Panthers saw seven wickets fall for 110 runs, meaning all three results were possible heading into the final set of six.
Even at 7/309 after 87, to be in a winnable position going into the last was a remarkable turnaround.
With a new kookaburra just a few deliveries old, Forysth turned to Englishman Ben Allison for one last effort, with four wickets and 24 overs to his name already.
Having removed Liam Fitzpatrick in the penultimate over, the set batter who made a brilliant 154, momentum was with the home side, despite having the more difficult of the paths to victory.
For Forsyth, it was all about keeping a level-head during a tense situation in the middle.
“For me I was trying to stay calm, have clear plans with the field and back the bowlers to execute the plans,” he said.
“We took the new ball because, I think there were five runs to win, Fitzpatrick was on strike and I thought ‘If we don’t get him out now, it’s going to be game over’, so the best way to do that was maybe with the new ball.
“Fortunately for us he ran down and tried to smash one over the top, got a big top edge fly-ball out to Angus Newman at point, who took an incredible catch, so that gave us a bit of life.
“Then with two batters who hadn’t faced many balls, a couple of big quicks were still steaming in, the plan becomes hit pads, hit stumps, and we’ll all go up, and we were lucky enough to do that a couple of times.”
The first ball of the final over was a dot, as the batter played and missed outside off stump.
Five balls, three runs, one wicket.
The second saw the visitors work a single to the leg side.
Four balls, two runs, one wicket.
On the third, Allison produces a yorker, which the batter digs-out, but his partner is halfway down the wicket.
In his follow through, Allison fields, turns and shies at the stumps at the non-strikers end, but misses.
Another dot.
Three balls, two runs, one wicket.
With his feet anchored to the crease, the batter feigns at the fourth ball outside off stump, but to no avail.
Two balls, two runs, one wicket.
As Allison digs the fifth in short, the ball strikes the batter on the body, and they scamper through for a desperate single as the throw comes from behind the wicket to the keeper’s end.
Allison finds himself on the ground again, having attempted a secondary run-out attempt off the initial throw, but was unable to grasp the ball, picking himself up as his teammates question whether the leg-bye should stand, or be called a dead-ball.
The call stands, and scores are tied.
Dandenong can no-longer win; the best they can hope for is a tie.
One ball, one run, one wicket.
It all comes down to this.
The fielders close in on the centre of Shepley.
Allison runs in hard, the batter swings even harder.
The ball takes a feather into the awaiting gloves on Sam Newell, and the game is tied.
In Forsyth’s mind, splitting the points was an apt outcome.
“I guess at 2/200, Camberwell probably thought they had the game and should have won,” he said.
“I’m also happy that we made 313 and took the positive option of trying to set up a victory.
“We could have tried to bat them out of the game but I thought the way our team went about it, we were happy to play in the right spirit and give them the same overs we had.
“I was proud of the boys for sticking it out and having a couple of chances to win the game, because at 2/200 you think, best case is to probably try and drag it out and get a draw.
“But to be in a position to win and have a couple of chances turned-down, it was an incredible game of cricket and an incredible fight from both teams.
“Both teams had their chances and should have won, but at the end of the day a tie was probably a just result for both teams playing so well.”
With that final dismissal, Allison laid claims to the match ball, finishing with 5/65 in what was his second five-wicket haul of the campaign and eight overs more than his next-highest overs total.
His captain described the performance as “incredibly tough”.
“He’s a wonderful competitor, I’m really proud of the way he played and it was great example to both teams, really, about the level you need to get to to play first-class cricket, albeit in England,” Forsyth said.
“He deserved the five wickets that he got and it’s been great having him play for us, set really high standards and showing the boys the skills and physical capabilities you need to play first-class cricket.
“I thought he was brilliant throughout the whole day and he’s basically another captain on-field, he’s that great a leader.”
The extraordinary outcome at Shepley was a stark contrast to the scenes at Casey Fields, as Casey South Melbourne’s finals chances were dealt a major blow.
Defending 245, they could only manage four Footscray wickets, who completed the chase in the 65th over.
Nathan Lambden was excellent up top for Casey, giving Dean Russ a frightening welcome to the crease with an over of plays and misses and a hit to the groin, but their inability to take wickets throughout the day proved their downfall.
A 166-run partnership for the fourth wicket did the majority of the damage, leaving the Swans on the outside of the top eight looking in with one fixture remaining.
The Swans head down the highway to face Geelong in their final fixture of the year next week, while Dandenong will tackle Fitzroy-Doncaster.
