By Marc McGowan
CASEY-SOUTH Melbourne lost an enthralling Victorian Premier Cricket one-day encounter with Fitzroy-Doncaster by two wickets at Casey Fields on Saturday in overcast conditions.
Lions tailender Dirk Nannes (four not out) managed to loft a straight drive to the boundary off Swans all-rounder Lucas van Raay (2/31 off 6.3 overs) for the winning runs with three balls to spare.
Earlier, rain forced a short delay to the contest and then twice took the players from the field, resulting in the tussle becoming a 42-over-a-side game.
Batting first on a slow wicket, Casey-South Melbourne failed to recover from yet another top-order collapse.
Van Raay (25 from 44 balls), Michael Hansen (23 from 48) and Joel Leaver (21 from 39) were the main contributors in its total of 122 in 38.5 overs.
Fitzroy-Doncaster fast-medium bowler Nathan Owen (3/27 off nine overs) led the charge ahead of two other teammates with multiple wickets.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Clive Rose was back in the Swans’ side, but opening bowler Troy Ryan (Achilles) was out again and likely to miss the rest of the season.
Casey-South Melbourne captain Roger Sillence (2/11 off nine overs) took the new ball for the second consecutive week and was superb again.
The Worcestershire all-rounder claimed two Lions scalps in his initial spell to have the opposition struggling at 2/2.
A consolidation period ensued for Fitzroy-Doncaster that found itself 2/11 after 10 overs due to the opening onslaught from Sillence and Matthew Hawking (0/20 off nine overs).
The Lions batting pair, captain Tim Sheehan (49 from 106) and James Court (36 from 93), continued to build and frustrate the Swans.
They moved the score to 2/91 after 32 overs and with 32 runs required to win from 10 overs – and eight wickets in hand – Fitzroy-Doncaster appeared to have the match well in hand.
That was before Casey-South Melbourne all-rounder Craig Entwistle (2/11 off seven overs), with his left-arm off-spinners, changed the course of the match.
Entwistle, who had a rare failure with the bat, was introduced into the attack in the 29th over and almost had immediate success, when Court hit a ball down Rose’s throat, only for the 17-year-old to fumble the catch.
Court was not so lucky the second time around, when he aired one of Entwistle’s deliveries in the bowler’s third over and succumbed to Hansen.
The dismissal triggered a stunning collapse, as Fitzroy-Doncaster lost 5/14 in six action-packed overs.
At 7/108 after 39 overs, the outcome was suddenly in question.
Van Raay took the ball in the all-important 40th over and the Lions were able to take advantage of six runs off the bat, two byes, one wide and two leg byes to grab the ascendancy.
Entwistle had not given up and conceded just two runs in the 41st over, but most importantly snared his second victim in the form of Owen (two).
With six balls to go, Nannes took strike against van Raay and failed to score off the first two – the second of which almost rolled back onto his stumps – before his heroic blow to the fence wrapped up victory.
Sillence was disappointed with the result, but saw some good signs from his players.
“It was a good game. We were obviously on the wrong side of it, but I thought we played some really good cricket in the second half,” he said.
“We were good in the field and the bowlers did really well to get back in the game.”
The Englishman has captured five wickets for 25 runs in the past two weeks and is looking forward to continuing in the opening role.
“I’ve taken (the new ball) back at home, so it’s not new for me – I quite enjoy it,” Sillence said.
“In the one-day stuff, you’re either on the receiving end of a pasting or you’re going to take wickets.”
Casey-South Melbourne takes on Geelong in a two-dayer at Geelong Cricket Ground this weekend and the battle continues on 10 February.
