By Marcus Uhe
A heroic performance from all-rounder Ruwantha Kellapotha inspired Casey South Melbourne’s 36-run preliminary final win in Victorian Premier Cricket against Ringwood on Sunday.
Kellapotha embodied the ‘never say die’ attitude that has carried the Swans to the grand final, hitting 73 in the first innings and taking playing 3/94 in 28 overs while playing through the pain of a broken toe, injured in the lead-up to their qualifying final win over Prahran.
Swans skipper Luke Shelton was glowing in his praise for Kellapotha and the sacrifice he made for his teammates.
“While it’s expected, it’s still very brave and tough of ‘Ruw’ and to push through and not once try and pull the pin even though you could see he was in pain, he was willing to keep going and it was all worth it in the end,” Shelton said.
“(His toe is) still broken so he did everything he could to play, and for him to go out there and bat the way he did with Ash and get the control back into our hands for the middle period of day one, and back up the next day to bowl 25 or 26 overs, with a limp pretty much the whole time, was huge for us on the weekend and so important for us.
“We definitely got a lot of inspiration out of not just him, but we fought all the way through.”
The Swans were sent in by Ringwood and posted 7/345 in 106 overs, before dismissing the visitors for 309.
They lost lost Yash Pednekar early, bringing Kellapotha to the crease at number three.
He and Ash Chandrasinghe put on 147 for the second wicket before Kellapotha was dismissed, and they suffered a minor wobble in the middle order in the aftermath, losing 5/43.
Michael Wallace survived the turbulence with 82 and Shelton hit 53, with the home side batting the maximum 106 overs available.
As the lower ranked side, Ringwood was forced to chase the game, with a draw being enough to see the Swans qualify for the decider.
They scored at nearly five runs per over for the first half of the innings but their approach brought risks and opportunities for the Swans, with no partnership lasting more than 80 runs.
David King was the rock in the middle order and hit 127 but his wicket at 6/239 signalled the beginning of the end, bar a 56-run ninth-wicket stand, as Casey South Melbourne punched their ticket to this weekend’s decider, beginning on Friday at Essendon’s Windy Hill.
In Carlton, they’ll face the side that broke their hearts two summers ago, while the Blues will be eager to right the wrongs of 12 months ago, when they fell short against Melbourne.
“They’re a good side, they have class players across the board with bat and ball and a lot of dangerous players, Mackenzie Harvey being one of them,” Shelton said.
“The Smyth brothers are very good, Gulbis is destructive with bat and ball and obviously Cam Stephenson.
“We always seem to have really good battles against Carlton, it’s very close, a lot of ebbs and flows and we match-up well against them.”
“We had a chance a couple of years ago and fell short so there are still a few wounds for a few of our guys and we’re just looking forward to taking it on.
Carlton snuck home in a one-day contest at Princes Park when the two sides met in January, but the three-day contest will be a different kettle of fish.
It will be the resilience and dogged determination displayed throughout the season and in the finals series that will be the key to the Swans tasting premiership success, in the eyes of Shelton.
“If we play the way we’ve been playing and stay really aggressive and take that to them for three days, it gives us the best chance of getting a result,” he said.
“We’ve been down in the dumps at different stages of these two finals and fought ourselves out of a hole and just really come back and threw a couple of quick punches ourselves to get ourselves on top, so we’ve got no fear and know we’re never out of the game.
“Guys are willing to keep pushing through tough and good times so if we bring that mindset, that’s our best chance to win the game.”
The Victorian Premier Cricket final begins at 10.30 on Friday afternoon.
