Despite a second convincing win in the Top Four, the OTP Chargers have narrowly failed to make the 2009-10 One Day 2A Final. A thumping 9-wicket win counted for nought when the team learned that East Coast Bays had beaten Eden Roskill White, thus denying the Chargers a place in the final due to an obscure tie-break rule.
The day started as many had predicted, with a fired-up Chargers arriving at Papatoetoe Rec Ground by midday. By 12.35pm, Papatoetoe had six players, one of whom was dressed in whites. The man whose job everyone wants but when they get it they’ll find out it’s not as easy as he makes it look, Jim Dawson, asked Papatoetoe if they would like to bat first, hoping that the Chargers would run through their six players in quick time. They agreed and it was game on, OTP needing a win to keep their hopes alive, while Papatoetoe was playing for nothing more than....well, nothing really.
If the OTP bowlers and fielders thought they were in for an easy ride, they were sorely mistaken. Harjeet and, in particular, Sonu SK, came out and dominated the opening duo of McCartain and Taylor. Everything Sonu hit came out of the middle of his bat and screamed to the boundary and the run rate bounded along at a quite alarming rate.
No problem though, Bruiser cleaned out Harjeet and then induced a skier from Sonny B. The safe hands of Hammer, who has never taken a catch for the Chargers in almost seventy appearances, lined up the ball at point and history looked set to be made. That is, until Leon Vainu, foaming at the mouth in anticipation of taking a great catch and with it, The Creature, pretty much bowled Hammer out of the way and nabbed the catch like the dirty thief in the night that he is.
Sonu continued on his merry way and Jordan, who looked like he’d come from a hard morning of ploughing on a local farm, blunted the OTP attack with a frustrating mixture of solid defence and punishing heaves over long on.
Drinks arrived with the score at 118-2 and the Chargers would need to work very hard to pull this one back.
And work hard they did, Hammer and Vainu bowling in tandem to create a number of chances. Sadly, these were either not accepted by the fielders or fell agonisingly into gaps. It looked like being one of those days where nothing the Chargers did would come off, until Sonu, after completing an excellent 108, smacked one straight into Dawson’s hands at point. The OTP skipper, who was rock solid in the field all day, sewed up The Creature with a neat grab. Vainu seethed and the score read 183-3 after 26 overs, 300+ looking well on the cards.
Whyte then cleaned out Jordan for 30, before Ravi and Harry worked the ball around the field to maintain a fairly healthy run rate.
Bruiser came back into the attack, obliterated the tail and, along with Pete Gordon, brilliantly wrapped up the innings well short of the 300+ that Papatoetoe should have made. Bruiser finished with the outstanding figures of 6-40, bowling fast and straight at the finish, while Gordon and Vainu picked up a brace each.
So, 263 to win. 263 to possibly gain a place in the final. 263 to overhaul the highest successful run chase in OTP history. With one eye on Dawson’s mobile for news of the other game, the OTP opening pair of Bede Haliburton and Darren Wind took to the field with a target of 120 at drinks on their minds.
Haliburton, who has been in relatively poor form since his double of 109 and 77 way back in November, went for his shots and looked all class. Some crunching cuts through backward point saw him race through to 25 at a run-a-ball, while, at the other end, Wind, who hadn’t passed fifty in 2010, also started upping the tempo with some booming drives, pulls and ‘don’t-smurf-with-me’ thumps through midwicket.
Amid all this, the Chargers discovered that Papatoetoe was using a 142g ball. Now, any good cricket fan knows that 142g balls are used by either children or women. The Chargers were a bit confused as to which of these the Papatoetoe team was masquerading as, so Dawson, who has recently been compared to Allan Border due to a combination of mental steel and rugged good looks, took it upon himself to take the ball onto the field and question the Papatoetoe captain about it.
As soon as he stepped on the field, he was met with a tirade of abuse from Jordan, who insisted that the OTP skipper must “give the smurfing ball back”, continuing to ask “what the smurf” Dawson thought he was doing. Dawson, disoriented by what he thought was some sort of unintelligible farming lingo, did his best to ignore Jordan and subsequently discovered that the 142g ball being used was what the Papatoetoe club had supplied their team with.
What?
It was the last straw for the universally admired OTP captain and it prompted him to lodge an official complaint with the ACA the following day. Turning up in an assortment of random clothing is one thing, but when you don’t even turn up with the right gear, you’re turning the whole game into nothing more than a farce.
Speaking of a farce, that is quickly what the game descended into.
Wind reached his third half-century for the Chargers before being cleaned out by Ravi for an intelligent 52. The opening partnership had been worth an invaluable 111 runs and it really set the scene for Taylor, promoted to #3 by the monster cricketing brain of Dawson, to show everyone how much he wanted to play in the final.
123-1 at drinks became 183-1 after 25 overs. After 29.2 overs, the OTP Chargers had won the game, scoring 266-1.
No, there was no mistayke in the above paragraph. The Chargers scored an unbelievable 143 without loss in 9.2 overs of controlled mayhem after the drinks break. Haliburton continued to bat brilliantly and he finished with 68* - an excellent return to form for the OTP sniper at exactly the right time of the season.
Taylor was another story. Another story altogether.
He reached his fifty in 31 balls – the third-equal fastest in OTP history. He then reached his hundred in 48 balls, eclipsing his own mark for the fastest century. At one point, Papatoetoe thought they might try to buy his wicket with some pie bowling. The poor, unsuspecting fool selected to bowl said pies saw 25 runs disappear (mainly back over his head) during the over.
Have a spell, Steve.
The Chargers showed an extraordinary amount of fight and will to win in this game and the application displayed by the top three batsmen was something that had been sorely lacking against Top Four sides earlier in the season. To restrict Papatoetoe to 263, when they should probably have made 300+, was a huge effort, but nothing could match the batting in terms of determination, ruthless intent and sheer domination.
Bruiser’s double of 6-40 and 116*, in a must-win Top Four match, is surely a certainty for Cornwall’s Memorial Trophy (the best individual performance in a single match). After an indifferent Top Four series back in 2006-07, particularly with the bat, Bruiser well and truly stamped his class on this year’s playoffs. 223 runs (once dismissed) and eight wickets (in two appearances at the bowling crease) was the icing on the cake to his claim on the OTP Player of the Season award.
After the win, Dawson gently revealed that the other Top Four game had not gone our way, meaning the Chargers were eliminated from finals contention. It was a devastatingly bittersweet way to bow out, especially as the team had absolutely dominated in their last two Top Four games. At the end of the day, however, the Chargers could blame no-one but themselves. Crucial losses in the round robin phase of the competition (most notably when chasing 102 against East Coast Bays in Round 1) and an inability to close out the first Top Four match against Eden Roskill White came back to haunt the side in the worst possible way.
However, there is little point now in reminiscing about what could have been. It’s over. It’s gone. Now is the time to celebrate the good things about this season – the great individual performances, the great team performances, the good times both on and off the field.
Joined: Oct 25, 2009 Posts: 14 Location: Titsey, England
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:23 am Post subject:
After reading the scorecard I wondered how you had missed out on a final? But the ACA must have changed the rules to the obscure tie break thing as opposed to the run rate thing they used to employ. Tough luck, particularly after two thumping play off wins that would surely have seen you in a final under the old rules.
Still, congrats on a good season, hope to see a bit more of you in 2010/11.
Joined: Feb 13, 2006 Posts: 3421 Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:32 am Post subject:
Yeah, the first tie break rule is now the total number of wins (over the whole season) you have over the teams you are tied with. We had a 0-3 record against Eden Roskill White and a 1-2 record against East Coast Bays. Our one win didn't stack up very well against ECB (3) and ERW (4).
I think it's a fairer way to separate teams than Top Four run rate, but yes, after two commanding wins in the Top Four, it did suck to not end up in the final.
Just shows how crucial every round robin game is. _________________
Joined: Oct 08, 2008 Posts: 220 Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:36 am Post subject:
Nice report Jim, batting with the Bruiser is something else, unbelievable. Even though we didn't make the final, it's still nice to end the season on a high.
Joined: Feb 13, 2006 Posts: 3421 Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 5:52 pm Post subject:
Yeah, the Papatoetoe GM replied to say it's not the first problem they've had with that team and that they would have to follow a stringent set of guidelines in terms of attitude and attire next season if they are to remain with the club.
Anyway Hoss, I've fulfilled my part of our bargain by writing the match report, so I think it's safe to assume you'll be coming to Hamilton with the team? _________________
Joined: Feb 15, 2006 Posts: 1170 Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:59 am Post subject:
He'd better! I've been wearing my box for 4 days already; going running, doing lunges, going to saunas. So if Hoss isn't in Hamilton to partake of his Kangaroo Court box-drinking, who's next up for the slowest FOS? I'm thinking either Beaver or the skipper
Joined: Oct 08, 2008 Posts: 220 Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:50 am Post subject:
Bullet wrote:
He'd better! I've been wearing my box for 4 days already; going running, doing lunges, going to saunas. So if Hoss isn't in Hamilton to partake of his Kangaroo Court box-drinking, who's next up for the slowest FOS? I'm thinking either Beaver or the skipper
Mate, i don't see why i should have to drink out of a box, just because i can't skull a flame as fast as you guys. That just means i haven't had as much practice at swollowing as you lot.
Joined: Jan 27, 2007 Posts: 295 Location: Auckland, NZ
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 1:49 pm Post subject:
In which case we might actually get a revolt on our hands. If the sheriff tries to get anyone to drink out of a box, he just might end up of the receiving end... unless it's Jim Dawson...
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