Macgregor Mongrels v North Spartans
Warehouse Cricket B3 Semi-Final 2021/22
19 and 20 March 2022 at Marchant Park 6
DAY ONE:
A glorious day for cricket. Rodney Searle opted to have a bowl when the coin fell his way and this decision looked to have paid off when North Spartans were 3/22 within the first 20 minutes. Alex Mainey (2) and Mitch Warn provided the early wickets with the assistance of catches by Errol Lumani and Searle with the gloves. Spartans fought back in a 59-run partnership between Jigar and Shakti, the former being the aggressor reaching 50 from just 33 balls before falling two balls later to some clever bowling by Mathysuthen Velmaren. After drinks, Suthen took advantage of some very tight bowling at the other end by Osama Mehmood, to claim wickets in three successive overs and reduce Spartans to 7/97; the last thanks to a catch by Alex Mainey. Once again Spartans fought back in a 36 run partnership between Shannon Connaughton and skipper Rajesh. The pair frustrated the bowling for 10 overs before Duncan McLean came into the attack and struck twice in his 3rd over to remove both partners, the first via a catch by Nick Titmarsh and the latter sneaking under the bat to scatter the stumps. With 9 wickets down, the session was extended past the scheduled tea break. Jasprit Singh’s clever farming of the strike and Stuart Allen’s good support allowed another 31 runs to be added. A Lumani catch at 3.20 gave Suthen his 5fa and finally brought the innings to a close on 165 from 48.5 overs.
Shannon Connaughton and Stuart Allen started beautifully for Spartans scuttling the Mongrels top order in a devastating 22 ball spell between overs 4 and 8. The bowling must’ve been perfectly straight with one bowled and three LBWs accounting for the first four wickets. Suthen and evergreen, Paul Jonas then steadied the ship steering the Mongrels to drinks and beyond in a 76 ball partnership. Suthen survived an initial “out” decision from an over-the-waist full toss when the umpires confused their signals, but with five overs remaining, there was no confusion when the stumps were disturbed. Five balls later, Osama met the same fate and the Mongrels were reeling at 6/24. Luckily, the umpires had miscalculated the minimum overs required, so, Alex Mainey and PJ were required to face just five overs rather than seven to take the team to stumps at 6/29.
DAY TWO:
Extraordinary batting was required on Day Two to avoid a loss. Alex Mainey and Paul Jonas were just the pair to oblige. Resuming at 10.00am, the pair were still there at drinks (taken at the unusual time of 10.45..don’t get me started!) and brought up a 50 partnership at 11.10. At 11.27, after 195-balls and 106 minutes the partnership was brought to a close when Alex edged to slip. PJ had come to the crease in the 8th over and was finally out in over 59 defying the bowling in a three hour, 157 ball innings.😲 Stuart Allen finished with 7 wickets for Spartans; The Mongrels total was 97, a deficit of 68 runs.
The Mongrels took the field after lunch needing to bowl Spartans out and then chase for an outright. Mitch Warn provided the first glimmer of hope in the 8th over thanks to an Alex Mainey catch, then four overs later it was Mitch again sneaking one through the defence to make it 2/42. Suthen snuck one through a few overs later and at drinks, Spartans were 3/60. There was a bit of drama a couple of overs after drinks when Gary Sargent collided with non-striker Shakti in the field (Sarge is on report for a crusher tackle!), but apart from that Shakti and Thupden were in control for most of the session, taking the score to 82 before Sarge sunk the boot in to remove Shakti via a PJ catch.
With a 150 run lead at Tea, quick wickets were definitely required. Mitch Warn again provided the hope when Errol Lumani got under one just 14 balls into the session, but Spartans dug in again. Eventually, with the lead at 181 and only 20 potential chase overs remaining, skipper Rod threw the ball to Errol Lumani! A wide, a single then a top edge and OUT! A C&B to Errol and it was 6 fa. Bouyed by the stroke of genius that brought that wicket, the skipper introduced himself, which most agreed was a step too far. However, in a remarkable three over spell, Rod picked up 3/9 including a wicket-maiden and a wicket off the 7th ball of an over! The people responsible, Lumani and Alex Mainey with great catches and Steve Mainey with a superb stumping have been reprimanded for creating a monster. Fittingly, the last wicket went to PJ sneaking one through the stubborn Tupden who finished a fine knock on 47 from 160 balls.
The target was 205 from a minimum of 11 overs. Suthen and Errol had some fun out in the middle, the game called to a close by Rod at the fall of the first wicket at the ten over mark.
This match was played in tremendous spirit by both sides. Thank You to all involved.
