By Jonty Ralphsmith
It was a medium-paced length ball put on a length by Scott Lindsay but with the venom he showed in his opening spell having evaporated under the scorching sun.
Dean Krelle took the invitation and flat bat pulled Lindsay over mid on, the canteen and the clubrooms for a massive maximum.
If there was a shot that defined the last 10 overs of Coomoora’s innings in the weekend’s grand final victory, this was it.
These were the rewards Rahoul Pankhania and Lance Baptist expected the middle-order to reap as they dug in and slowly pulverised the Berwick Springs attack.
The openers got Coomoora to 0/81 at lunch on day one, with Pankhania going on to score 78 in a player-of-the-match performance as he thought through his innings beautifully.
“It was hot and we knew we had hitters in the team so we wanted to give them the best chance to play freely and we also knew the fielders will be ground down and sore,” Pankhania said.
“It was about knocking it around and just driving them as far as I can into the ground on the cricket field so being none down early on sets it up.”
Krelle’s first shot was an aerial one through cover and his second was a six over long off.
The intent was clear: the foundations had been set, now was go time.
Two overs later was the massive six, one of four he hit throughout his innings, and the following ball he was spilled on the fence by noted fielder Ethan Marinic.
This gulf in skill execution was the difference between a team experienced enough to rise to the big moment and one bereft of vibrancy.
At that point, he was 21 off eight balls and had already lifted the tempo, but he would go on to score another 26 off 19 and punish the tiring attack before holing out to skipper Braydon Hillman.
Krelle finished the season with 279 runs at 27.9, peaking at the right time with his two biggest scores being in his last two hits.
“I’ve never seen a player hit a ball as hard as him,” skipper Liam Hard said of Krelle.
“He was the perfect man for the perfect moment (on Saturday).
“It was set up by Rahoul then Dean took it upon himself to excel.
“He didn’t make as many runs as in previous years but he’s one of those guys who hits himself back into form.
“A bit like (Glenn) Maxwell where he keeps going and backing his game in, he’s got the confidence to keep going.”
Ultimately, he piloted an explosive last 10 overs for the Roos which elevated a strong total into triumphant territory: the highest score successfully chased in Turf 3 this season was 184, Coomoora put on 269 to win by 120 runs.
