Casey-South Melbourne’s English recruit Chris Benham was at his breathtaking best in his quick-fire 69-run innings against Hawthorn-Monash University at Monash University Clayton on Saturday. Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Marc McGowan
CASEY-SOUTH Melbourne’s form resurgence continued on the weekend, but it was not quite enough to defeat Hawthorn-Monash University at Monash University Clayton.
The Swans made a valiant attempt at chasing down the Hawks’ mammoth 9/369, but fell 21 runs short.
Resuming at 7/344, Hawthorn-Monash University decided to bat on and added a further 25 runs, with Casey-South Melbourne right-armer Lukas Hoogenboom (2/79 from 27.5 overs) claiming two wickets.
The momentum the Swans had built over the past month filled them with confidence that they could take the points, but struggling batsman Jye Sampson – whose position could come under threat – was dismissed for a duck.
Fortunately for Casey-South Melbourne, that brought white-hot Englishman Chris Benham (69 runs off 71 balls, 15 fours) to the crease.
Benham and the similarly in-form Tim Dale (53 off 71, nine fours and one six) combined for a magnificent 129-run alliance that put the Swans in great position.
But the Hampshire star and Dale were removed in consecutive overs to put Casey-South Melbourne at 3/132.
Returning captain Michael Hansen (40 off 91) and last season’s batting dynamo Craig Entwistle (81 off 136, seven fours and one six) set about rebuilding again and blasted 70 runs together as the Swans reached 3/202.
Disaster struck, however, when Hansen then young tyro Luke Chapple fell in quick succession to halt the club’s charge for a second time.
The depth of the Casey-South Melbourne line-up has increased in recent weeks due to the drastically improved batting exploits of Victorian under-19 all-rounder Clive Rose.
Rose, who hit a career-high 70 off 108 balls, with five fours, shone as he and Entwistle guided the Swans to 5/297 with a 94-run union.
Entwistle became Hawk Matthew Hewat’s second victim on that score as Casey-South Melbourne’s chances began to dim.
Rose carried on, but ran out of partners before being the final man out on 348.
Hawthorn-Monash University’s Rodney Bird (3/68 from 19 overs) headed four Hawks bowlers with multiple wickets.
Hansen was pleased at the Swans’ sudden competitiveness, but was disappointed they could not record their second win of the season.
“I think the key for us was that at two stages we lost two wickets in two overs and that stalled our momentum,” he said.
“It put pressure on us at the end, and going into the last hour of the run chase we needed about five or six runs an over.
“There were a couple of hero shots where they should have been knuckling down to keep churning the score along.”
But the performance was another indication that Casey-South Melbourne was on track, according to Hansen.
“The underlining thing is that at least now we’re doing all the right things to put ourselves in a position to win,” he said.
“The team was used to winning games in the past and we would have gone through and won that game on the weekend.
“The more times we get in these positions, the more times we will win and get used to winning.
“We’re not far away. I can’t ask the bowlers to do much more and the batsmen were outstanding.”
The Swans will be without Rose, who is on Victorian under-19 duties at the national championships, for this weekend’s contest against Fitzroy-Doncaster at Casey Fields.
However, Casey-South Melbourne will regain the services of all-rounder Reuben Wakefield for the Saturday and Sunday match, which begins at 11am on both days.
Batsman Brett Watkins, who made a century in the seconds this round, is in contention to be promoted to the firsts.
