Two days of gruelling cricket and hearts on sleeves saw Casey South Melbourne patiently progress onto the prelim finals after securing a draw against Carlton in Victorian Premier Cricket.
The scoreboard stalemate means the Swans move on as the higher placed team, but Will Carr’s men had to work incredibly hard for the result.
At Casey Fields, the hosts won the toss on Saturday and decided to bowl.
And Casey South Melbourne got the first say of the semi final, as Nathan Lambden picked up the wicket of Connor Rutland (14) when he was caught by Ash Chandrasinghe and the Blues were 1/17.
But star brothers Harrison and Tom Smyth picked up the pieces as they so often do, navigating the visitors out of the tricky period.
Tom (37) was then the next man to depart after being dismissed by Muhammad Irfan, but Carlton had responded at 2/94.
Irfan then secured his second wicket when Jai Lemire (19) snicked off a good delivery into the waiting hands of Devin Pollock to be 3/130.
But when Jagadeswara Koduru stepped to the crease, he and Harrison Smyth formed an impenetrable partnership that firmly put the Blues in the driver’s seat.
The duo both powered past the half century mark, before Smyth reached the ton with a beautiful slap away for four on the leg side in the 74th over.
Koduru also inched closer to a century of his own, notching it by stepping back and clipping away a single in the 88th over.
And he headed to the sheds two balls later, being caught for 100 on the fence at deep cover by Ashvin Adihetty off the bowling of Finlay Gordon.
At that stage, the partnership had nearly eclipsed the 200-mark, with Carlton flying at 4/316.
Aryan Sharma (3) then only lasted four balls before he became Lambden’s second victim of the day, while Smyth (142 not out) and Dominic Sullivan (5 not out) saw the Blues through to the 90th over, declaring at 5/332.
Casey South Melbourne was sent in on the back end of day one, but openers Chandrasinghe and second-gamer Lenny Wilton reached stumps unscathed.
The Swans knew a draw would get them through, so a disciplined approach to their innings was certainly implemented and instilled, with the top order holding its end of the bargain.
Wilton (49) was cruelly left one run short of a maiden Premier first XI half ton when he mistimed a cut shot and the ball tickled the inside edge from a Cameron Stevenson delivery.
The hosts were 1/73, but Jackson Isakka helped relieve any stress.
Isakka and Chandrasinghe crawled along extremely slowly, before Chandrasinghe (49 off 121) was also left one run short of a milestone when he uncharacteristically played a rash, uncontrolled shot and was caught in the deep off the bowling of Evan Gulbis.
At that point, the hosts were 2/133 after 41 overs.
Isakka (47 off 130) and Yash Pednekar added a further 40 runs until Isakka was caught and bowled by Sharma.
Pednekar (19) was then on the other end of some rotten luck, with a Michael Archer delivery deflecting off his foot and rolling back onto the stumps to be 4/179.
And suddenly, Casey South Melbourne had lost 4/51 after Gordon (6) slashed over his shoulder into the mits of Sullivan to give Archer his second scalp.
Thus, Chris Benedek and Pollock were placed under immense pressure to salvage a draw and not throw away their wickets.
And they did just that.
Benedek (40 not out from 110) and Pollock (23 not out from 85) braved everything Carlton threw at them to face 30 overs unharmed and drag the Swans into the prelim, finishing at 5/246.
The result sees Casey South Melbourne punch its ticket to the Albert Ground to play Melbourne in the prelim.
In the other semi, Footscray survived an absolute thriller against Prahran at Mervyn Hughes Oval.
It was the battle of gun bat Mitchell Jamieson’s (163 from 297 balls) unbelievable innings against Brodie Symons’ (seven wickets) magnificent spell on the first day as the Dogs posted 315.
On day two, Damon Malcolm (70) gave the visitors a great start, before it seemed Damon Egan would get them home.
But Egan (95) was trapped in front in the 86th over to push Prahran to 9/297.
Bailey Toseland (four wickets) then bowled Cam McClure (1) to knock over the visitors for 305, 10 runs shy of the total.
VIC PREMIER SUMMARY
Results Semi Finals: Casey South Melbourne (5/246) draw with Carlton (5/332d), Footscray (315) def Prahran (305).
Fixture Preliminary Finals: Melbourne (2) v Casey South Melbourne (4) at Albert Ground, St Kilda (1) v Footscray (3) at Harry Trott Oval.
