| rosebowlcricket.co.nz |
|
Game II of Season 2005/06
Saturday 14 January 2006
Conditions: Sunny and Hot
Toss: Porirua (elected to field)
Result: Porirua won by 3 Wickets
Man of the Match: Sam Denman
Saturday 14 January 2006
Conditions: Sunny and Hot
Toss: Porirua (elected to field)
Result: Porirua won by 3 Wickets
Man of the Match: Sam Denman
"Denman's 5 wickets ranks up there with one of the all-time great bowling performances. A solid chase was still required at the end, with Lees and Rose knocking off the necessary runs with assurance."
Under a blazing hot sun, and under tremendous pressure from their opponents, Porirua emerged victorious in Game II of the Haywards Shield 2005/06 on Saturday.
With a 4-on-4 contest, Michael Kirker debuting, and two regular players in McHugh and Cockburn out of the match with other commitments, both teams knew there would be plenty of unknowns in this game - and so it turned out. There were surprises a-plenty. What follows is a report on the latest epic Haywards Shield clash.
There was not a cloud in the sky, or a blade of grass left unmowed as Porirua won the toss on a brown, hard track at around 2 pm in the afternoon. After some deliberation, Nathe Rose elected to opt to bowl first.
That decision paid immediate dividends. Before the Hutt Valley batsmen had even switched into game-mode, Denman had bowled a no-ball. After the customary protest, Denman went back to his mark and unleashed another ball - this time a legitimate one - which found the edge of Andrew Torrance's bat and cannoned into the auto-wickie board to give Porirua the dream start. After the damage he has inflicted on Porirua in the past, dismissing Torrance for a duck provided a much-needed spark for Porirua to ignite a burning flame of desire for victory.
Williams got on-strike to face Rose, and he sought to make ammends for both the departure of his opening partner, and his own dismal record with the bat. With two fours and two sixes in the over, he provided us all a reminder of the class that this man does indeed possess. 20 runs in an over got the Hutt total on its way.
However, this recovery effort was rocked back on its heels when Lees bowled beautifully in the next over to Au, who had joined Williams at the crease. Au was unable to score any runs off the first five balls of Lees spell. On the sixth ball, Lees tried a risky ploy by delivering from several metres behind the bowling line. The gamble paid off as Au mistimed the ball completely, lofting an easy catch straight back to Lees who jubilantly snatched the chance.
Spencer took some punishment in the next over as Williams shrugged off the loss of Au with another 20 runs. Williams timing and power was looking extremely ominous for Porirua - could this be the innings where he would put the past behind him, and put Porirua to the sword?
At the other end, Michael Kirker had taken guard to face Denman. On debut, the first ball he ever faced in the Haywards Shield was smacked over square leg for six! He raced to 16 off just 6 balls, and suddenly Porirua were facing an onslaught from both ends.
Lees came on to bowl again, whereupon the Hutt Valley called the "no LBW, bowled or hit wicket" Powerplay. Williams looked to attack. He smoked a massive six to cow corner, but just two balls later, Lees found an edge to the delight of his Porirua team-mates. Williams would have been kicking himself as he was forced to depart for, that score: 48.
With just one man left, Porirua would have hoped to have cleaned up the debutant quickly. But Kirker had other ideas. He showed considerable talent with the bat, garnering 34 priceless runs before Lees snared a catch at square-leg hit straight to him off the bowling of Denman.
Lees and Denman were then asked to open the batting for Porirua in pursuit of the Hutts' 97. Lees saw off Torrance with assurance, but Williams looked to have got the breakthrough when he deceived Denman into chipping a dolly of a catch to Au at square-leg. It looked like an undroppable catch, but at the last moment the ball brushed a tree branch which was enough to change the path of the ball enough for Au to spill the chance. A life for Denman.
Frowns soon turned upside down for the Hutt though, as first Lees fell to a ripping delivery from Torrance which may have been caught behind, or may have been bowled - no-one was quite sure. However, he was out. Denman didn't make the most of his extra life, as he too was soon cut down courtesy of Williams, the auto-wickie board, and a snick.
Rose got to face Au, and punished him to the tune of three fours in as many balls - all to fine leg. Porirua were still a fair way short of the Hutt Valley total though, and it would be down to Rose and Spencer to try and eek out a first innings lead.
The next over will go down as one of the most bizarre in the Haywards Shield. Kirker, bowling left arm medium pace, bowled six wides, two no-balls, conceded a six and took a wicket - the over lasting 14 balls in total. The wicket was that of Rose, who attempted to sweep a ball which didn't bounce as much as would be expected. The delivery stayed low and skittled the Porirua captains' stumps for another disappointing knock of 12.
With their last man in, Porirua called the "fielders-off" Powerplay with Spencer facing Torrance. The gambit paid off as a couple of fours were hit to areas which probably would have been catches if the fielders were on the ground. Next over though, Williams finished the job first ball, producing an edge.
Spencer top-scored with 19 for Porirua and they trailed by 24 on the first innings. After doing so well to nab Torrance early, and not allowing Williams to post a really big score, the blue-and-golds would have been kicking themselves that they couldn't press home the advantage with the bat. The Hutt would have been well pleased to emerge with any lead at all.
Williams faced Denman first over. A dot ball. A four. A MAMMOTH six. A four... Denman was talking a good game by goading Williams, labelling him a slogger, lucky not to mistime it, and lots of other nasty nicknames. Williams shrugged it off with a chuckle, but it was Denman who got the last laugh as he sent down a dirty full toss which Williams could only edge into the auto-wickie board. Daryl Tuffey-esque, Denman got a wicket in his first over in both innings. The last ball of the over Torrance smacked a six, so in just six balls Denman had taken a wicket and conceded twenty. The game was moving at a typically frantic Haywards Shield pace.
With Au on strike, Rose elected to bowl himself. Au hit a four and a single giving the strike to Torrance. The man with the fluffy blonde hair hit another six - two sixes in two balls for the innings. Rose decided to bowl from around the wicket for the final ball of the over and somehow this produced a horrible mis-cue from the batsman. The ball went high in the air as Rose scrambled his way backwards to get under it. It would go over his head... it would be caught... it would go over his head... it was caught. A difficult chance was held, and Torrance was gone for just 12. At this point the Hutt looked in serious trouble - both Williams and Torrance gone for less than 20 each.
Lees contained well in the next over, and Spencer conceded just 13 during the "fielders off" Powerplay. Denman began the next round of bowling with his tail up, 3 wickets already to his name and the faith of his whole team behind him. Before his over was finished, the innings had come to a close. 3 wickets became 5 as first he cleaned up Kirker's bales with a hum-dinger of a bowl, then bamboozled Au into again offering a simple caught-and-bowled opportunity. A truely historic performance with the ball from Denman meant that Porirua would be chasing just 78 for victory.
As soon as it was announced that Torrance would bowl the first over of the Porirua chase, Rose called for the "no LBW, bowled or hit wicket" Powerplay, giving his openers a chance to see off the dangerous Hutt opening bowler. Lees hit a four, but then threw the bat at a ball which was never in the right zone for hitting. The ball flew high to short mid-on - any one of three players could have taken it - but in the end no-one did. Torrance grassed the easy opportunity, prompting Lees and all of Porirua to breathe a collective sigh of relief. It was a missed chance that the Hutt would come to rue.
Denman resumed his personal battle with Williams the next over, grabbing a six-and-out with an edge into the auto-wickie board off an attempted pull. He walked off the pitch mightily annoyed with himself, and couldn't help noting that in a game with a real wicketkeeper, the shot he had just played would likely have been four, not caught. All that mattered for nought though, as under Haywards Shield rules he was definately out, and Rose would need to make his way to the crease to join Lees.
Lees set about the task of getting the necessary runs by plundering 20 off an over off Au. Rose chimed in with a couple of fours to his favourite hitting zone of square-leg/fine-leg when Kirker came on. When two batsmen are playing well, 78 runs doesn't take long to get in the Haywards Shield, and these two overs alone cut 30 runs off the target.
Still, Lees and Rose weren't about to take any chances. They paid respect to good bowling - Lees didn't score any runs off the bat from Torrances' second over, and Rose soundly defended for five balls of Williams - only picking up four from a misfield from Au.
This strategy paid off, as Rose was able to take 14 off Au's second over - again, all of Rose's runs coming in the square-leg/fine-leg region. Lees knocked a six off Kirker, and suddenly Porirua needed only 10 runs with 3 wickets in hand.
Rose nearly threw away one of those wickets with an agricultural sweep shot across the line against Torrance. The ball was a ripper and only missed the stumps by a bee's diaphragm, and Rose let the rest of the over go for a maiden. It mattered not. Next over, Lees got the job done with three beautifully-timed fours to the fence off Williams to seal the match in style.
With a man-of-the-match bowling display from Denman, and a wonderful unbroken partnership of 71 between Lees and Rose to guide the blue-and-golds to the target in the second innings, Porirua can be justifiably proud of leveling the series, although questions remain over their ability to press home an advantage as we saw in their first turn at bat. The Hutt will be rueing two relatively straightfoward dropped catches - particually that of Lees who went on to score 43 not out. Their main worry is their over-reliance on their key players. When things didn't go Torrance's way, the rest of their team didn't step up as they could have. All in all, Porirua deserved their victory, and now the series will go to a decider to be held next weekend at the Rosebowl. McHugh and Cockburn are both expected to be available for play, and with a 5-on-5 game in the offing, both teams have it all to play for.
With a 4-on-4 contest, Michael Kirker debuting, and two regular players in McHugh and Cockburn out of the match with other commitments, both teams knew there would be plenty of unknowns in this game - and so it turned out. There were surprises a-plenty. What follows is a report on the latest epic Haywards Shield clash.
There was not a cloud in the sky, or a blade of grass left unmowed as Porirua won the toss on a brown, hard track at around 2 pm in the afternoon. After some deliberation, Nathe Rose elected to opt to bowl first.
That decision paid immediate dividends. Before the Hutt Valley batsmen had even switched into game-mode, Denman had bowled a no-ball. After the customary protest, Denman went back to his mark and unleashed another ball - this time a legitimate one - which found the edge of Andrew Torrance's bat and cannoned into the auto-wickie board to give Porirua the dream start. After the damage he has inflicted on Porirua in the past, dismissing Torrance for a duck provided a much-needed spark for Porirua to ignite a burning flame of desire for victory.
Williams got on-strike to face Rose, and he sought to make ammends for both the departure of his opening partner, and his own dismal record with the bat. With two fours and two sixes in the over, he provided us all a reminder of the class that this man does indeed possess. 20 runs in an over got the Hutt total on its way.
However, this recovery effort was rocked back on its heels when Lees bowled beautifully in the next over to Au, who had joined Williams at the crease. Au was unable to score any runs off the first five balls of Lees spell. On the sixth ball, Lees tried a risky ploy by delivering from several metres behind the bowling line. The gamble paid off as Au mistimed the ball completely, lofting an easy catch straight back to Lees who jubilantly snatched the chance.
Spencer took some punishment in the next over as Williams shrugged off the loss of Au with another 20 runs. Williams timing and power was looking extremely ominous for Porirua - could this be the innings where he would put the past behind him, and put Porirua to the sword?
At the other end, Michael Kirker had taken guard to face Denman. On debut, the first ball he ever faced in the Haywards Shield was smacked over square leg for six! He raced to 16 off just 6 balls, and suddenly Porirua were facing an onslaught from both ends.
Lees came on to bowl again, whereupon the Hutt Valley called the "no LBW, bowled or hit wicket" Powerplay. Williams looked to attack. He smoked a massive six to cow corner, but just two balls later, Lees found an edge to the delight of his Porirua team-mates. Williams would have been kicking himself as he was forced to depart for, that score: 48.
With just one man left, Porirua would have hoped to have cleaned up the debutant quickly. But Kirker had other ideas. He showed considerable talent with the bat, garnering 34 priceless runs before Lees snared a catch at square-leg hit straight to him off the bowling of Denman.
Lees and Denman were then asked to open the batting for Porirua in pursuit of the Hutts' 97. Lees saw off Torrance with assurance, but Williams looked to have got the breakthrough when he deceived Denman into chipping a dolly of a catch to Au at square-leg. It looked like an undroppable catch, but at the last moment the ball brushed a tree branch which was enough to change the path of the ball enough for Au to spill the chance. A life for Denman.
Frowns soon turned upside down for the Hutt though, as first Lees fell to a ripping delivery from Torrance which may have been caught behind, or may have been bowled - no-one was quite sure. However, he was out. Denman didn't make the most of his extra life, as he too was soon cut down courtesy of Williams, the auto-wickie board, and a snick.
Rose got to face Au, and punished him to the tune of three fours in as many balls - all to fine leg. Porirua were still a fair way short of the Hutt Valley total though, and it would be down to Rose and Spencer to try and eek out a first innings lead.
The next over will go down as one of the most bizarre in the Haywards Shield. Kirker, bowling left arm medium pace, bowled six wides, two no-balls, conceded a six and took a wicket - the over lasting 14 balls in total. The wicket was that of Rose, who attempted to sweep a ball which didn't bounce as much as would be expected. The delivery stayed low and skittled the Porirua captains' stumps for another disappointing knock of 12.
With their last man in, Porirua called the "fielders-off" Powerplay with Spencer facing Torrance. The gambit paid off as a couple of fours were hit to areas which probably would have been catches if the fielders were on the ground. Next over though, Williams finished the job first ball, producing an edge.
Spencer top-scored with 19 for Porirua and they trailed by 24 on the first innings. After doing so well to nab Torrance early, and not allowing Williams to post a really big score, the blue-and-golds would have been kicking themselves that they couldn't press home the advantage with the bat. The Hutt would have been well pleased to emerge with any lead at all.
Williams faced Denman first over. A dot ball. A four. A MAMMOTH six. A four... Denman was talking a good game by goading Williams, labelling him a slogger, lucky not to mistime it, and lots of other nasty nicknames. Williams shrugged it off with a chuckle, but it was Denman who got the last laugh as he sent down a dirty full toss which Williams could only edge into the auto-wickie board. Daryl Tuffey-esque, Denman got a wicket in his first over in both innings. The last ball of the over Torrance smacked a six, so in just six balls Denman had taken a wicket and conceded twenty. The game was moving at a typically frantic Haywards Shield pace.
With Au on strike, Rose elected to bowl himself. Au hit a four and a single giving the strike to Torrance. The man with the fluffy blonde hair hit another six - two sixes in two balls for the innings. Rose decided to bowl from around the wicket for the final ball of the over and somehow this produced a horrible mis-cue from the batsman. The ball went high in the air as Rose scrambled his way backwards to get under it. It would go over his head... it would be caught... it would go over his head... it was caught. A difficult chance was held, and Torrance was gone for just 12. At this point the Hutt looked in serious trouble - both Williams and Torrance gone for less than 20 each.
Lees contained well in the next over, and Spencer conceded just 13 during the "fielders off" Powerplay. Denman began the next round of bowling with his tail up, 3 wickets already to his name and the faith of his whole team behind him. Before his over was finished, the innings had come to a close. 3 wickets became 5 as first he cleaned up Kirker's bales with a hum-dinger of a bowl, then bamboozled Au into again offering a simple caught-and-bowled opportunity. A truely historic performance with the ball from Denman meant that Porirua would be chasing just 78 for victory.
As soon as it was announced that Torrance would bowl the first over of the Porirua chase, Rose called for the "no LBW, bowled or hit wicket" Powerplay, giving his openers a chance to see off the dangerous Hutt opening bowler. Lees hit a four, but then threw the bat at a ball which was never in the right zone for hitting. The ball flew high to short mid-on - any one of three players could have taken it - but in the end no-one did. Torrance grassed the easy opportunity, prompting Lees and all of Porirua to breathe a collective sigh of relief. It was a missed chance that the Hutt would come to rue.
Denman resumed his personal battle with Williams the next over, grabbing a six-and-out with an edge into the auto-wickie board off an attempted pull. He walked off the pitch mightily annoyed with himself, and couldn't help noting that in a game with a real wicketkeeper, the shot he had just played would likely have been four, not caught. All that mattered for nought though, as under Haywards Shield rules he was definately out, and Rose would need to make his way to the crease to join Lees.
Lees set about the task of getting the necessary runs by plundering 20 off an over off Au. Rose chimed in with a couple of fours to his favourite hitting zone of square-leg/fine-leg when Kirker came on. When two batsmen are playing well, 78 runs doesn't take long to get in the Haywards Shield, and these two overs alone cut 30 runs off the target.
Still, Lees and Rose weren't about to take any chances. They paid respect to good bowling - Lees didn't score any runs off the bat from Torrances' second over, and Rose soundly defended for five balls of Williams - only picking up four from a misfield from Au.
This strategy paid off, as Rose was able to take 14 off Au's second over - again, all of Rose's runs coming in the square-leg/fine-leg region. Lees knocked a six off Kirker, and suddenly Porirua needed only 10 runs with 3 wickets in hand.
Rose nearly threw away one of those wickets with an agricultural sweep shot across the line against Torrance. The ball was a ripper and only missed the stumps by a bee's diaphragm, and Rose let the rest of the over go for a maiden. It mattered not. Next over, Lees got the job done with three beautifully-timed fours to the fence off Williams to seal the match in style.
With a man-of-the-match bowling display from Denman, and a wonderful unbroken partnership of 71 between Lees and Rose to guide the blue-and-golds to the target in the second innings, Porirua can be justifiably proud of leveling the series, although questions remain over their ability to press home an advantage as we saw in their first turn at bat. The Hutt will be rueing two relatively straightfoward dropped catches - particually that of Lees who went on to score 43 not out. Their main worry is their over-reliance on their key players. When things didn't go Torrance's way, the rest of their team didn't step up as they could have. All in all, Porirua deserved their victory, and now the series will go to a decider to be held next weekend at the Rosebowl. McHugh and Cockburn are both expected to be available for play, and with a 5-on-5 game in the offing, both teams have it all to play for.
