South Brisbane v Sandgate Redcliffe - 2nd Grade
Allan Pettigrew Shield 2020/21
Round 18
13 & 20 February 2021
Norman Gray Oval
DAY ONE
Trent Pearce won the toss and elected to bat in an important game for the seconds. Sitting 5th on the ladder, a win was required to keep finals hopes alive. However at 4/24, 15 overs in, things looked pretty grim.
Brandon Honeybrook and Brendan James steered Souths to lunch without further loss, but not long after lunch, a "rush of blood" brought Honeybrook undone and it was 5/65.
Corbin Zeller, returning after injury, joined McNae for a stubborn 33 run partnership over the next 16 overs. This was an important partnership for its effect on the opposition bowlers. In warm conditions, McNae and Zeller frustrated the bowling by leaving wide deliveries and picking off singles and the occasional two. Boundaries had just started to flow when McNae was out about 10 minutes after drinks.
Arlen Wells-Peris joined Zeller adding another 33 runs in just under nine overs before Arlen fell a couple of overs before Tea. Although, seven down, some respectability had been restored in the session with 98 runs scored.
Due to a paltry over rate in the first two sessions, there were still 38 overs to be bowled in the day. Zeller and Matt Casey took full advantage of a flagging attack; advancing the score to 200 by drinks; Zeller bringing up 50 from 119 balls along the way. The new ball, taken immediately after 80 overs, proved a disaster for Sandgate as Casey brought up 50 from 106 balls and Zeller plundered 34 from 21 balls, taking his score to 90. The game-changing, 128-run partnership came to an end at 4.48pm, when Casey's lofted drive was accepted by Mid-On.
Zeller's quest for a ton was dramatically halted when he chopped one on from the last ball of the 94th over on 98.
A remarkable day for Souths, reaching 274; 130 of these coming in the final session.
DAY TWO
Defending 274, South Brisbane started beautifully with Brendan James and Toby Brown restricting Sandgate to just 8 scoring shots and 12 runs from the first 11 overs! The inevitable wicket came in the 12th over, when a pull shot off Sawyer-Brown found the hands of Matt Casey at square leg.
Sandgate held on grimly in the face of some very good bowling, but could not prevent the loss of the second wicket in the 25th over when Dominic Coote disturbed the stumps. Only two boundaries were scored in the morning session; Sandgate 2/45 at lunch.
It was Coote again, nine balls into the second session, breaking through the batsman's defence, to make it 3/48. The miserly bowling continued as Coote, Casey and McNae bowled maiden upon maiden. Just three runs came in the next seven overs before McNae scattered the stumps with the score on 51.
A catch to Arlen Wells-Peris off a rampant McNae four overs later made it 5/56 and a fine keeper's catch to debutante Ollie Anderson off McNae, two overs after that had Sandgate reeling at 6/63.
Remarkably, Trent Pearce was able to wrest the ball from McNae and bring on Sawyer-Brown with immediate effect, thanks to a sensational catch by Coote at Mid-On, back-pedalling and taking one high overhead. Sawyer-Brown claimed his third of the day, four overs later when he pouched a C&B from a mis-timed pull shot.
A fine spell of 3.4 overs 2/0 by Wells-Peris finished off the Sandgate innings on the stroke of Tea; 189 runs in arrears. Pearce enforced the follow on with 32 overs to bowl.
As in the first innings; the first wicket came in the 12th over, with the early introduction of Wells-Peris; the opener adjudged LBW. Then, wickets to Coote either side of drinks, via catches to Pearce and Anderson, made it 3/44.
With 10 overs to go, McNae and Sawyer-Brown snavelled a catch each in the same Wells-Peris over to make it 5/65. Three overs later, Alexander Robynson held one off Casey and the outright was on! 6/71; 7 overs to bowl.
Five overs came and went, but no wicket. Pearce grabbed the ball for the second last over at 4:59. Dot. WICKET! Honeybrook taking the catch at Mid-off. Dot. WICKET! A catch behind to Anderson. 8/84; 8 balls to go! Could it happen?
Of course it couldn't. Cricket is a wonderful, glorious, #$%^& of a game sometimes. 😡🙂😮
Well done on a remarkable day of cricket lads.
