Casey-South Melbourne captain Michael Hansen scored 18 of his team’s 305 runs in its draw with Northcote at Bill Lawry Oval on the weekend. Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Marc McGowan
CASEY-South Melbourne’s Victorian Premier Cricket season came to a dramatic close in thrilling circumstances at Bill Lawry Oval on the weekend.
Facing fellow struggler Northcote in the final round, the teams duelled right up to the last ball of the day before having to settle for a draw.
The Dragons sent the Swans into bat on Saturday and Casey-South Melbourne trotted Tim Dale and Jake Best out as its latest opening partnership.
It was a successful move, with the pair producing 43 runs for the first wicket.
Unfortunately number three bladesman Clive Rose was out without scoring, but Craig Entwistle’s up-and-down season continued with 71 runs, which included eight fours.
Entwistle, who was out for a duck in both innings the previous round, was back in form and helped move the score to 2/130.
Best was out on that total, but, with strong contributions from wicketkeeper Robbie Elston (57, eight fours) and Rhys Serpanchy (52), the Swans’ score buzzed along.
The runs only came at a trickle, but the orders were to grind them out after the Swans were bowled out for less than 100 twice in the previous round.
The Swans batted on for 10 overs on Sunday morning, adding 39 runs before declaring at 305.
But when Northcote went to tea with more than half of the tally covered and only two wickets down, Casey-South Melbourne looked set for another defeat.
Proceedings continued in this direction for a further 40 minutes after the resumption, but suddenly the Swans struck.
Dragon opener Jarrod Carlson (90, eight fours) was the third victim, ending his 140-run alliance with maiden century maker David Wildsmith (119, 13 fours), and Stephen Baldwin followed soon after.
However, the wickets looked like a temporary interruption when Alastair Evans (27) and Wildsmith steadied their side with a 51-run union.
But the Swans had no intention of letting up and off-spinner Entwistle (4/86 from 21 overs) loomed as the unlikely match-winner with the leather.
The diminutive veteran claimed the scalps of Evans and Francis Gill amid a slump of 4/20 for Northcote.
It all led to the final six balls, with the Dragons needing six runs for victory and Casey-South Melbourne requiring two wickets.
Entwistle was entrusted with the duty of bowling the last over and the run-out of David Reid added further to the excitement.
That was as close as the fixture came to a result, with neither team able to capture the points.
Rose (2/73 from 23 overs) was the Swans’ other multiple wicket-taker.
Despite being unable to finish the season on a high, Casey-South Melbourne captain Michael Hansen was pleased with his team’s charge at an unlikely triumph.
“It was exciting; everyone was pumped,” he said.
“There was a danger of it just fizzling out on the last day, especially when they were 2/160 at tea.
“It went from making for a tough, hot day for us to all of a sudden in the last hour and a bit wickets started to come.
“Both teams didn’t deserve to lose and in some ways a tie would have been a nice thing, but second-best is a draw.”
