South Brisbane v Wynnum Manly - 2nd Grade
Allan Pettigrew Shield - Round 15
15 and 16 January 2022 at Bill Albury Oval
DAY ONE:
Another win of the toss by Matt Casey and the Magpies were batting first in the first match of 2022. Liam O’Hare and Smit Mehta settled into a cautious pre-lunch session after Mehta was dropped off the first ball he faced, in the second over. Just five boundaries came in the first session - two of these in the 28th over - Souths 0/60 from 29 overs at lunch.
The partnership came to an end on 63, just 20 balls into the second session when Mehta spooned a catch back to spinner Jackson Steinhardt. A mini-collapse followed with wickets falling to Tom Eyley in the 38th, 40th and 42nd overs to reduce Souths to 4/83. It was 5/98 seven overs later, when Wynnum skipper, Nick Boller, took his third catch at slip, this time off Austin Billing. Souths newbie, Lachland Newland, then partnered with Trent Pearce adding 54 from 69 balls, to take Souths to Tea at 5/152 from 60 overs.
The slow-ish over rate in the first two sessions meant Wynnum were in for a long 36 overs in the final third of the day. Bowling spearhead, Tom Eyley, had already amassed a staggering 21 overs in the first two sessions. Pearce and Newland took full toll of the flagging attack, taking the partnership to 102, including 11 fours and a Pearce six to bring up 50 from 71 balls. A second C&B to Steinhardt saw Pearce depart with Souths on 200 and a further 25 overs to be bowled. Newland brought up his 50 from 69 balls in the next over and together with Matt Casey, took Souths to drinks at 6/227. The 44-run partnership ended when Casey flicked one off his pads straight into the hands of the square leg fieldsman; 7/244. Wynnum might have been hoping for some respite from the lower order batsmen, but there was none. Newland continued to attack and found good support in Matthew Taviani. The pair added 57 from 73 balls to take Souths to 301 from 92.3 overs; Newland (on debut in 2nd grade) bringing up his ton from 125 balls. Newland continued to blast away and was 9th man out for 120 (136) with the score on 327. Josh Bartlett and Jacob Dunne sunk the boot in to take the score to 340; Dunne out from the last ball of the day.
DAY TWO:
A perfect start for Souths when Jacob Dunne grabbed a return catch from the last ball of the first over. It got even better when Dunne scattered the stumps with an absolute “seed” in the 3rd over. A brilliant leg-side catch to Taviani in the 13th over gave Dunne his 3rd wicket (7-5-3-3) and made it 3/15. From that point it seemed that Wynnum were only playing for shared points.
Wynnum limped to lunch at 3/43 from 32 overs. Wickets remained intact after the break, but the batsmen struggled to force the pace or rotate the strike. The 16 overs after lunch included 75 dot balls as Smit Mehta, Josh Bartlett and Jacob Dunne turned the screws on Wynnum batsmen, Anjana Nannayakkara and Ali Nasar. Nasar came out of his shell to smash 16 of the 44th over, but retreated immediately and finally succumbed in the 51st over, one short of a 50; Casey taking a cracker of a catch at slip, off Newland. Nannayakkara and Jackson Steinhardt then dug in to take Wynnum to Tea at 4/114.
After Tea, Souths continued with relentless line and length bowling. Arlen Wells-Peris and Smit Mehta probed away on a track getting flatter by the minute. A mis-field in the 78th over saw Nanayakkara bring up 50 from 217 balls. Then, a couple of overs later, Wells-Peris’ patience was rewarded when Steve Roy took a catch at mid-on to bring Nanayakkara’s marathon innings to a close; Wynnum 5/156. The New Ball was gleefully taken by Matt Casey. Josh Bartlett struck after 4 overs; scattering the stumps to remove the new batsman. Steinhardt continue to plug away and brought up a well-deserved 50 from 103 balls in the 85th over. He was dismissed a few overs later when a heater from Bartlett “pinballed” from bat to pad to ground, then trickled onto the stumps and dislodged the bail; Wynnum 7/178 with a half an hour to go!
With the ball just 10 overs old, Casey re-introduced spin and was rewarded right away with a wicket to Wells-Peris from a sharp chance to Pearce at slip; 8/187, 20 minutes to go. Seven minutes later, Wells-Peris struck again when the ball deflected to slip where Casey took another beauty and the umpire’s finger went up; 9/193, 13 minutes to go. The umpire later clarified that he adjudged the batsmen LBW - the ball having deflected off the foot.
The number 11, Gopy Ramgharia, faced just two balls in the next three overs as Wynnum skipper, Nick Boller, farmed the strike. One can only assume that Boller was not aware that it was the last ball of Mehta’s over when he swung the ball high to long on for 6 at the end of the 96th over. Ramgharia was now exposed to Wells-Peris at 4.55pm. It took just two balls. Ramgharia decided the best form of defence was attack and lofted an off-drive. Wells-Peris glided to his right and accepted the return catch. ALL OUT 207 just 4 minutes from the end of play. Another thrilling victory to Souths.
