By Marcus Uhe
A remarkable contest of twists and turns between Narre South and Beaconsfield saw the Lions sneak home on the final ball of the afternoon by one wicket in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 1 action on Saturday at Beaconsfield’s Perc Allison Oval.
With the scores tied on 166, a single to Ruween Wijesinghe off the final ball of the match pushed the Lions past Beaconsfield’s total, and secured his side’s first win since round two.
Beaconsfield was in the driver’s seat for much of their batting innings thanks to a 125-run stand for the third wicket between Yohan Arumadura and Mark Cooper.
Former Tiger Callan Tout removed Tyler Clark for a fourth-ball duck, bringing Cooper and Arumadura together in the first over.
Arumadura was the aggressor in the partnership, scoring with a higher strike rate than his captain over the course of their union.
But his departure for 74 set in motion a stunning collapse, the Tigers falling from 1/126 to 166 all out in the 42nd over.
Kevin Seth fell for a golden duck immediately after Arumadura to Kyle Hardy, with the remaining batters all falling for single-figure scores, separate collapses of 2/0 and 4/2 the low points of the innings.
Cooper was the final man dismissed, falling just shy of carrying his bat, for 49.
Jeevan Mendis was the pick of the Lions’ bowlers, finishing with 3/45 from his 12 overs.
Beaconsfield made a promising start to their defence, reducing the visitors to 4/59 upon the dismissal of Hardy for 33.
Hardy saw Harsha De Silva, Callum Nicholls and Alex Cruickshank all come-and-go for single-figure scores, and departed in the midst of a promising partnership with Mendis.
The reigning Wookey medallist added 47 with wicketkeeper Riley McDonald for the fifth wicket and wrestled momentum back to purple, but his and McDonald’s departure in short succession shifted the balance once again.
When Mendis was bowled by Trishane De Silva, the Lions needed a further 56 runs from the remaining 41 deliveries, with only four wickets in hand.
Tout and Sean Wilson added 36 for the seventh wicket, aided by a 25 runs from the 40th and 41st over.
Wilson’s 14-run cameo came to an end in the 43rd over, however, 20 runs shy of the target.
12 runs from the 44th over, thanks to an important six from Brad Parker, made it seven runs required at the beginning of the final set of six.
Parker’s run out made for an awful start to the over, Wijesinghe joining Tout at the crease requiring seven from Mitchell Tielen’s final five balls.
They did it the hard way, running ones and twos off the next four deliveries, tying the scores on the second last ball before sealing the six points on the last ball of the day.
The win is significant for the Lions’ mental fortitude, having lost games from winnable positions against Buckley Ridges and Berwick before Christmas.
Hardy’s 33 was the top score for Narre South, Arumadura bowling five maidens in his spell of 1/24 to go with his excellent innings with the bat.
Ashan Madhushanka and Seth each took two wickets for the Tigers, who may come to rue this contest at the end of the season when finals positions are on the line.
