Bloods all-rounder Gavin Fewkes is bowled on the third-last ball of the day.By Paul Pickering
NOT even a dramatic final-over loss could spoil Springvale South Cricket Club’s blissful afternoon on the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Despite suffering a narrow defeat to Heatherhill Cricket Club in Sunday’s VB Twenty20 Cup Final, the Bloods players savoured the chance to live out their cricketing dreams after striding into the cavernous arena to the introduction of the ground announcer and the beats of a live DJ.
Springvale South earned the honour of competing in the final after progressing through the statewide tournament as the champion of the metropolitan region.
Taking on the country champions from the Mornington Peninsula league, Springvale South was set a target of 153 for victory in the inaugural cup final, with off-spinner David Grainge recording impressive figures of 2/20 from his four overs.
After a swashbuckling start from openers Craig Slocombe (29) and Jason Quirk (21), the Bloods lost their way in the middle overs, losing quick wickets to place the pressure firmly on the tail.
But when all-rounder Gavin Fewkes (20) dispatched a massive six into the Great Southern Stand in the second-last over, the Bloods were left needing 12 runs from a tense final over for victory.
With three wickets in hand, Fewkes’ stumps were scattered by the fourth ball of the over before a scampered leg-bye left Nick Bole-Brown the unenviable task of hitting a six from the last delivery to claim the cup.
The fairytale finish was not to be, though, as Bole-Brown mistimed a full toss to mid-wicket for a single. But for playing-coach Slocombe, the result of the match was almost peripheral to the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I think the excitement of the day itself outweighed the disappointment of losing,” he said. “We should have got the runs, but I’m not disappointed one bit.
“I’m just so proud of the everyone at the whole club.”
Slocombe said he was pleased by the way his players responded to the inevitable nerves of the occasion, saying he hoped the experience would ignite his club’s tilt at back-to-back Dandenong District Cricket Association premierships.
