IT was a dramatic end to the round nine Barber Shield cricket clash for North Sportsman’s and South Gambier, as the two locked horns at Marist Park on Saturday.
It was worthy of the inaugural Reconciliation game, with a Welcome to Country delivered by Belinda Bonney, while players and spectators joined in a barefoot circle before the first ball.
In what panned out as an exciting match North won, but by the slimmest on margins, with the game up for grabs until the final over.
In fact, had South’s Robert Drenthen scored off the penultimate ball, a victory was a real possibility.
With two legal deliveries to play South trailed by seven runs and needed something special to claim the win.
However, Tim Young bowled a tight line with the next ball and Drenthen was unable to work it around, with a dot the result as the game slipped from the Demons’ grasp.
Drenthen threw caution to the wind on the final ball and cleared the fence, but it was too late and South had to settle for second best on the day.
Initially North won the toss and elected to bat on a good day for cricket – a rarity in recent weeks – as the game had been reverted to a one-day fixture after rain on day one saw all play in the competition called off.
Mitch Lewis and Jake Schutz showed plenty of class as they took the Tigers to a half-century opening stand to set the scene for a big score, despite some tight bowling from Jakob Opie and Drenthen early.
Lewis played a steady hand, but found the going tough and after facing 60 balls was sent back to the shed, caught behind by Josh Thompson off the bowling of Camron Jorgenson for 21.
Meanwhile Schutz was compiling a decent innings and was joined by Aidan Thatcher in the middle.
He lasted just eight balls before he was clean bowled by Jamie Dunn, with the North total at 65.
Elliott Fisher was off to a good start, but with the total at 135, Daniel Lupous claimed the prized scalp of Schutz for a well-compiled 79 and some regular wickets began to fall.
Captain Nick McInerney came and went quickly and Fisher followed soon after for 27, which saw the Tigers slump to 5/146.
There were few runs to follow, with Kieren Ashby holding on for a rapid 17 off 11 deliveries to see North to a total of 168.
The Demons’ run chase could not have started any worse, with a tight over from Tim Young putting them on notice it would be no easy feat.
Just one run came from his opening over, but it was Declan Kenny’s first ball which put a dampener on proceedings.
David Vine was out for just one run, but that brought captain David Somerfield to the crease.
He looked to turn the tables immediately as he cleared the fence off his first ball and the game was on in earnest.
However, Somerfield’s effort was short lived, bowled by Kenny after banging on 12 runs from 11 deliveries.
At 2/21 South needed a steadying hand and that came through Thompson.
He joined Jorgenson in the middle and the pair began to build a steady innings.
However, the Tigers had a sniff of victory and their pressure did not abate, with few runs coming for the struggling Demons.
Jorgenson was eventually judged lbw off Jared Strawbridge for a slow 18 runs, while Dylan Clough misjudged a McInerney ball to be stumped by Tom Edwards for 25.
Opie faced just two balls for his duck and South looked in trouble at 5/97 with around 10 overs to play.
Thompson continued to compile a handy knock, but with the total at 127 he fell victim to McInerney just shy of his half-century on 47.
Just five runs later Dunn was clean bowled by Young and any chance of a Demons victory looked beyond reach.
With little to lose Drenthen came in and hit successive boundaries, but at the other end Michael Sims struggled to find the gaps.
With balls fast running out Drenthen looked to take on the Tigers’ attack, but in the final over Young proved hard to dispatch.
His first four deliveries yielded just four runs and from there the Demons could not strike the decisive blow.
