2’s clench victory from jaws of defeat - kickstart season
After two consecutive defeats in very winnable games, the OXCC 2nd XI travelled to Glen Huntly park to face off against fellow bottom-dwellers Old Caulfield/NGC. Winning the toss, co-captain Matt Perrett chose to bat on a firm but questionable wicket with several cracks which were likely to worsen as the day progressed…
And lucky they did. The 2s lost their top 3 for 10 runs and looked to be reeling, before the ship was steadied by Eddie Paul (16) and debutant fill-in Jack Knight (45) whose top score was crafted beautifully on an incredibly difficult wicket to bat on. Jack Stratford (26) continued his solid form with the bat moosing balls to the fence Mitch Marsh style, and at 5/110 it looked like the Xavs were on for a decent score. Then the vintage batting collapse commenced, and the following 5 wickets were lost for 6 runs, leaving the Xavs all out for 116. The small comfort was that the opposition were rolled for 120 the previous week, and the wicket had more demons than the Melbourne Football Club.
The bowling innings saw some of the most consistently good bowling I have witnessed in my 6 years at the club. Co-captain Pat Nunan (2/24 off 8) and Ash Carey (1/11 off 8) bowled 16 beautiful overs in tandem and saw Caulfield/NGC at 3/38 when they had finished their spells. Under the run rate with their top 3 down, the Xavs were in with a chance but knew that any bad balls would be costly. So after the next 2 overs went for 15 runs, the pressure was right back on. The never say die attitude of the 2s this year was embodied by Tom Worsnop (0/25 off 7) and Ed “The Chief” MacIsaac (4/19 off 8), who produced his best figures for the club after using the conditions to his advantage beautifully, ripping his new off breaks off the cracks to decimate the opposition’s middle order. Needing approximately 30 runs off the last 10 overs, 4 wickets in hand and a set batsman at the crease, the game still appeared to be in Caulfield’s favour. Aaron Ivak (1/12 off 4) bowled tight lines from one end, taking a crucial wicket late and limiting runs off the bat. The ball was thrown to Matt Perrett (2/21) late as spin appeared to be working, and drama inevitably ensued. A crucial wicket of the set batsman, followed by back-to-back boundaries saw the sea-saw swing back and forth, and a dislocated shoulder did not stop the number 10 back try whack Pez all over the park. It went from 13 to win off 18 balls, to 5 to win off 16 balls. Carefully dotting from Pez and then Azza saw a 3 to win, 2 to draw situation off the last over from Pez. A single off the first, then 2 dots, then a sky ball duked by Andrew “Arrr Arr Arr” Seal with the gloves saw a victory stolen right out from Caulfield’s mittens.
The boys were absolutely pumped in the rooms afterwards, agreeing that such a win had not been experienced in far too long, and there will be more to follow in the coming weeks. GO XAVS!
