By Nick Creely
Epic is one word to describe the events that transpired late afternoon at the Geelong Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Another is clutch.
Pure and simple clutch.
The deeds of Jacques Augustin and Peter Cassidy when the game looked virtually dead won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
And Dandenong are now grand final bound in Victorian Premier Cricket, looking to add yet another famous chapter to its club’s story after the women secured an equally remarkable premiership recently.
At 6/84, chasing a seemingly out of range 220 against Geelong away from home with the season on the line, the Panthers were up against it.
There’s no shying away from it.
Many teams have fallen away in the same position, seemingly knowing that its more unlikely than likely that a win was within sight.
But not these Panthers.
Jacques Augustin has for so long been one of the great Premier Cricket gloveman.
And now he’s provided one of the more clutch knocks in recent memory with bat in hand.
It was his first half-century since joining the club too, and it was a match-winning beauty laced with class.
Combined with Peter Cassidy, who played an equally stunning knock, the Panthers found the runs with three balls to spare, with Jack Fowler then slicing one to the boundary to ice the game in style.
“Sitting here, about 24 hours after, it still feels a bit surreal, almost like it hasn’t sunk in, but I’ve got no doubt it will,” Augustin told Star News Group on Sunday.
“Three or four years ago, nerves probably would have got the better of me, and I guess it starts to come with a bit of experience.
“It’s satisfying – I’ll always consider myself a wicket keeper batsman, so it was satisfying to not only contribute, but contribute to a match-winning performance in a final.
Despite the typical grit and determination of Brett Forsyth (38) at the top, the Panthers struggled to find fluency with the bat as the middle order fell, but that was until Cassidy and Augustin came together.
In an epic 137-run partnership, Cassidy and Augustin refused to let the home side dictate terms.
Instead, with Cassidy playing more of the steady hand and Augustin the aggressor, the pair slowly but surely started to bring the Panthers back to life.
Although it was still a fair way back, the momentum had shifted off the blade of the right-handers.
With just six overs left to play and 44 runs required to win, Augustin slapped one square to cross past a brilliant half-century, and not only ran tirelessly through the wickets, but showed power and precision with his shot selection.
In the 48th over and as the game went right down to the wire, Cassidy too found his half-century, clipping one down to long on as the scenario tightened: 19 required from the final 12 balls.
That was until the dagger came in a scintillating 49th over.
Cassidy clipped Cats quick Brody Couch for four off the first ball, a piercing cover drive raced to the fence from Augustin off the third ball, before a towering six from Augustin off a full-toss levelled the scores with six balls to spare.
Despite taking three balls off the final over – which included the unfortunate dismissal of Cassidy – to get that solitary run, it was a famous win, and one not to be forgotten.
The heroes, Augustin (71 not out from 56 balls), and Cassidy (56 from 67 balls), were composed, summed up the situation superbly, and will be written into club folklore regardless of whichever way Saturday’s grand final goes.
Augustin said that when he arrived at the crease to join Cassidy, and a win seemingly unlikely and the season almost over, it was about staying composed and just controlling the things within its control.
“Early doors, there wasn’t much discussion, at 6/80 when you’ve got 20 overs left, I’m sure a lot of people probably felt that the game was almost gone,” he said.
“We were relaxed to start off with, but we kept batting and it got closer and closer – at 6/80 you’ve got nothing to lose in that regard, I probably didn’t expect to do what we did, but the closer it got, we were just trying to minimise the gap between runs needed and balls left.
“We were lucky enough to get a few away, and in that last over we were able to 19, 20 away or whatever it was, but disappointed that Cass got out in that last over, it would have been nice to see it through with him, but that’s cricket I guess.”
He added that playing with that freedom released the shackles in the match-winning partnership.
“It was funny, it was almost like a free-hit as such, at 6/80 we could play with a little bit of freedom and take a few risks, and see what happens,” he said.
“There was a few half chances, a couple of run-outs, a dropped catch, so the game could have gone any way.
“But we took those opportunities, ran with them and took advantage of them.”
Earlier in the day, the Cats put up a good showing with the bat without star skipper Eamonn Vines who was missing with injury, showing plenty of patience to set up a more than competitive 6/219 from its 50 overs.
Debutant Jack Riding showed great promise, compiling 31, while the evergreen Hayden Butterworth (55), alongside Angus Boyd (44), helped the Cats’ cause.
With the ball, offie Suraj Randiv (2/47) was instrumental, while quick Adam McMaster (2/61) found a couple of scalps while Pete Cassidy (1/41), Jack Fowler (1/31) and James Nanopoulos (0/35) kept things tight.
Augustin said that the Panthers felt that 220 was a comfortable target if they stuck to what makes them such a dynamic side, and a powerhouse for such a long period of time.
“Batting first and putting runs on the board in a final is always going to be difficult,” he said.
“In saying that, Geelong’s always a good cricket wicket, but we felt that we let them get away a bit late in their innings, they got a few sixes away.
“We would have liked to keep them to 200, but we felt that if we batted out our 50 (overs), a few guys get some runs and we put on some partnerships then we’d be fine.”
But the stage is now well and truly set for Saturday’s Premier Cricket grand final at the CitiPower Centre, with the Panthers to take on red-hot Prahran, who were outstanding in its semi-final win against Fitzroy-Doncaster on Saturday.
The two clubs haven’t played this season due to the fixture falling on the same weekend Melbourne was placed on a short lockdown in February.
Augustin said that the group was ready and raring to aim for yet another piece of silverware in the cabinets of Shepley Oval.
But he expects the True Blues to provide a stern contest.
“We’ll have a good week on the track heading into the granny,” he said.
“It’ll be satisfying to hopefully win a second one in a few years, and for some of the guys it’ll be their fourth of fifth, so it just shows the dominance of Dandy over the last 15 to 20 years.
“They’ve got a couple of state players and some good kids coming through, and over the last couple of years its always been a hot contest. They’ve got some good depth.
“It’s an exciting week coming up – in one-day cricket, one or two players can turn a game on its head in five, ten overs.
“We’ll prepare well, and anybody can change the game in an instant, so we’ve got to make sure we’re on for 100 overs and hopefully the rest looks after itself.”
