Ressies v EBOP Firebirds - SEMI-FINAL Match Recap
Semi-final day is upon us and thanks to the cricket Gods the rain has passed and the sun is shining!
Once again the captain's impressive run of winning the toss continued, the consensus was bat first and get runs on the board. We had the team huddle and the words were simple “top 6 batters especially, be selfish today don't give your wicket away”. The goal was to make the first 10 overs with only 1 wicket down maximum which we managed to achieve even though a wicket fell on the very next ball! We had a pre-match inspirational speech from our overseas supporter and clubman "Oscar" and we will leave those words in the huddle as they were very much had to be there moments.
After a strong start from our openers we did lose a couple of wickets so we needed to rebuild and boy did we manage that with an impressive 100 run stand between Dil (45) and Gagan (65). They had a lot of singles and 2's but as they got more comfortable the boundaries definitely started to flow to all parts of the ground. Although we probably left a few runs out there with our running between the wickets at times we felt that the 192 total we set was a very competitive number.
The job now shifted to our bowling attack and fielding effort which has been tested at times this season but we still felt confident. Before heading out Karl mentioned to Jono “I feel it's your day today”, and he wasn't far wrong! The first 20 overs the team’s spirit was flying high as Jono bowled an impressive opening spell of 8 overs on the trot to remove the top 3 batsman with his usual deadly outswing. He was supported at the other end by very economical spin bowling from Gary. Then he was joined by his brother and skipper (Matt) who had an absolute blinder with the ball, inswing, seaming, just unplayable at times snagging the next 4 batsman for very few runs which left the Firebirds reeling at 75/7! We did unfortunately put down a couple of chances and then went off the boil just enough for them to form a partnership that took the game down to the wire! The other Whakatane team (Hurricanes) playing on the next paddock dispatched the BOP Indians to book a spot in the final so they inherited a large support contingent that was cheering for every run closer to the target.
Not to be outdone though we had our very own cheer squad made up of players, club members, and family, then we also got the large support from our prems lads after their game finished who cheered every dot ball and wicket for us. This made for a very exciting but tense final 5 overs, but it was the final 3 overs where the suspense was at an all-time high… we needed 2 wickets and they needed 23 runs. Skip had to make a change to the bowling attack so he put his trust in Anchal and he stepped up to bowl. First ball was wide and the tensions rose but after a tidy over the 5th delivery they tried to hit him out of the park but it went straight down long-ons throat, just to make it even more dramatic the catch was bobbled but taken in the end by Nilaksh. Gary then stepped up for the penultimate over there was a few dot balls but 2 blunting strokes from their captain J-Mac the equation was simple, they required 7 runs and us a lonely 1 wicket.
This is not the first time our team has been in this situation so we took great confidence in our ability to pull the rabbit out of the hat. Anchal again stepped up for the last over and after a few singles off the first few balls they needed 3 runs off 2 balls and again they tried for the "big shot”, but it went straight to the safe hands of Dil and then the celebrations started with players running onto the field to join with us. There was so many other moments of the day to name but special mention to Mags for umpiring, James #greatestteamman, and the other players from our squad that turned up to support as everyone played their part in getting the team to the finals.
- words by Jono Collier
#letsbringithome #forevergeyser
