13 Mar 2023

Monday 13 March 2023

Match Report for Saturday 11 March 2023

 

King’s College – 112 all out in 41.3 overs

Sacred Heart College – 116/9 in 47.2 overs

In pursuit of a mediocre 113 runs for victory in 50 overs, Sacred Heart were well and truly in control at 74/3 in the 27th over with their skipper, Dominic Kelleher still at the crease, and imposing his calmness, presence of mind and street smarts on the King’s attack. More on this later! King’s had gone wicketless for nine overs with the opposition well ahead of the miniscule RRR when a lucky break came in the fashion of a run out. Liam Denny was involved, as he often is, when classy fielding is needed. A semblance of belief arrived in this James Nelson over, especially when he had the other opening batter caught by Denny off the very next ball. So, spin was going to be King’s salvation and it continued to be the case for a major part of the next 30 overs as the trio of Nelson, Justin Nori and Samar Singh stamped their authority on this match.

When Nelson claimed the prized wicket of the afore-mentioned Kelleher in the 28th over, breaking a vital 40 run partnership, almost shutting King’s out of the match, the boys sensed another door opening. Singh, with his bag of tricks, claimed the next three wickets, with a sublime spell of leg-spin bowling. His eight overs on the trot included three maidens. The less-economical Nori picked up one wicket and was pilfered for boundaries by the big hitting Kelleher. Nelson picked up two wickets with smart bowling, focussing largely on drying out the runs.

Drinks was taken at 85/7 with the main spinners running out of overs. There was discussion that Oliver Kittle, who was untried at this level, could plug the gap. It was a big gamble, but this was a time for high risks to be taken and brave players to front up. Singh and Nelson were held back for a bit as the thinking was that the more experienced pace due of Denny and Finn Priddy should play a role. With the tail at the crease and 27 runs needed or 3 wickets for either result to occur the tension skyrocketed. After Denny conceded 4 runs in the 35th over, Kittle was thrown the ball. He showed amazing courage to answer the call, conceding just one run in his first over, the 36th and three in the 38th. No more wickets – the runs required now dropped to 19. The gamble did not work as well as was expected so it was back to Plan A and bringing back the main spin trio. The break in rhythm did not help as Singh, Nelson and Nori delivered five overs amongst themselves, conceding 8 runs – no more wickets. The score was now 102/7 in the 42nd over, 11 runs required.

Kittle was brought back, conceding three runs but picked up the 8th wicket. Skipper, Morgan Tapper brought himself on for the first time this season and conceded one run. Kittle bowled the 45th and picked up another at the cost of just one more run – 107/9 after 45 overs. Sacred Heart were inching closer, the fielders were running themselves ragged to deny them runs. Everyone was on high alert. Eventually, in the 48th over, Sacred Heart secured victory and King’s trudged off in utter dejection. A good fight, none the less. Something that will come in handy in future close encounters.

Had King’s got another 15-20 runs when they batted, the outcome could have been so different. Sacred Heart won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling on a damp wicket. King’s struggled against the home pace attack. James Nelson was the most comfortable batter and clawed his way to 50 good quality runs but threw his wicket away, once again, in familiar fashion – playing a high-risk reverse sweep. He was dismissed in the 36th over with the score on 102/5.

The brittle middle and lower-order failed to rise to the occasion and King’s lurched to 112 all out in the 42nd over. Nelson’s dismissal was the turning point. Had he stuck around for a bit longer, the outcome could have so easily been different. 

C Knight

1

O Kittle

1

M Tapper

5

J Nelson

55

J Bamford

18

L Denny

10

J Nori

5 not out

S Singh

0

S Illerbrun

2

T Hamilton

1

F Priddy

0

 

 

 

L Denny

7-1-19-0

F Priddy

4.2-0-17-0

J Nelson

10-1-17-2

J Nori

10-1-31-1

S Singh

10-4-19-3

O Kittle

5-0-10-2

M Tapper

1-0-1-0

 

 

 King’s lose by 1 wicket