By Marcus Uhe
His skipper called the spell “one of the best I’ve seen him bowl for a number of years.”
Hallam Kalora Park was in a perilous position after the first innings on its Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf 1 one-day contest against Beaconsfield on Saturday, rolled for a paltry 111 inside 41 overs.
If not for some late salvation from the tail end and a critical 29 at the top of the order from Ben Hillard, the Hawks may not have even had a target capable of defending, after Hillard was the only member of the top six to reach double figures against a fired-up Tigers outfit.
Looking unbothered at 0/30, Mick Cronin’s side appeared destined to inflict a second loss on the Hawks, and have them winless after four rounds.
Enter Lee Brown.
A tremendously popular figure at the Hawks, the veteran off-spinner took a sharp catch at first slip to remove Tyler Clark, before a his critical spell of bowling put the Tigers in a world of trouble.
He trapped dangerous pair Andrey Fernando and Dylan Vanderwert for LBW decisions for 23 and five respectively before breaking the contest open with the key scalp of Tigers skipper Susantha Pradeep, feathering a cut shot into the waiting gloves of Damith Perera behind the stumps.
Those wickets, combined Lauchlan Gregson’s removal of Sasith Livera, plunged the Tigers from cool and composed to anxious and fidgety as pads, gloves and helmets came on and off at a rapid rate in their changerooms.
0/30 became 5/60 in the space of 11 overs, and while the equation was still in the Tigers’ favour, the Hawks were now rolling.
The energy in the field was high, the fielding was sharp, and the tension now palpable with a potential pressure-relieving win back on the cards.
Ashan Madhushanka and Abaseen Taniwal stemmed the bleeding for a brief period in an 18-run stand, but debutant Pavandeep Singh’s return to the attack added another twist to the tale.
Taniwal loomed large, having performed a similar role for the Tigers in round two with a gutsy half-century against Narre South in parallel circumstances.
He was afforded no-such chance this round, misreading the Malaysian spinner’s craft and falling for seven, and just a handful of deliveries later with the team score unchanged, Michael Dunstan was sent packing for a third-ball duck.
At 7/78, it was now anyone’s game, with Madhushanka looming as the next major piece of the puzzle.
He offered some expansive drives in a desperate counter-punch but pressure at the other end continued to bring the downfall of his teammates.
Mitchell Tielen became Brown’s fourth victim when he was bowled with 19 more runs required, forcing another lift in intensity from the final remaining recognised batter.
He hit Singh for two boundaries in the 33rd over to take his side to the brink of triple-figures but lost his wicket with an attempt at another boundary off the returning Will Whyte.
Replacing Brown after finishing his allotment of overs, Whyte struck with just his second ball of the over as Madhushanka attempted a lofted drive over the off side.
The top edge skied and swirled, forcing Perera to run back towards fine leg, but he held onto the catch brilliantly in what was another ripping point.
12 of the next 13 deliveries were dots, only broken by a boundary to number 10 Jake Cutting, before Nawid Mohammady became the last domino to fall, as the Hawks secured a stunning victory.
Jordan Hammond could not have been prouder of his side’s efforts, with particular praise reserved for Brown.
“The game changed when ‘Browny’ came on, they were 0/30 and when you look at it, we really bowled them out for 70-odd,” Hammond said.
“He didn’t really bowl a bad ball.
“Apart from a couple of good shots by the batters back over his head, I don’t think he got hit for any boundaries.
“He took big wickets and tying them down at one end helped the wickets fall at the other end as well.”
“Pretty lucky” to even reach triple figures in Hammond’s opinion, a directive from coach Matthew Cox to keep the energy high and heads up in the field blocked out negative thoughts after the poor showing the bat.
There are some growing pains in the batting order as the Hawks embark on regenerating the squad from previous years, with veterans in Cox (retired) and Ciaron Connolly (Lyndale) removed from selection calculations.
Perera and Austin Fardell are the key inclusions with the bat, while Hillard looks set to partner Booth at the top of the order after grinding his way to a vital 29.
“Ben’s best position is opening, he showed that in past and we think that putting players in the best positions is best for us.
“If he doesn’t bat the 30/40 overs, we probably don’t get 110.
“People may think that opening in one day games, you’ve got to have someone up there who is a bit more aggressive but we thought that early in the year, when the wickets aren’t great, to have someone who can keep wickets in hand (is important), and to be honest, he played the role.
“Obviously we didn’t expect the wickets to fall around him but in the end, him opening probably helped us a fair bit.”
Beaconsfield will rue what was a golden opportunity to make a Turf 1 statement after another impressive bowling effort.
Madhushanka combined his vital runs with 3/28 as the pick of the bowling figures, with Pradeep and Cutting each grabbing two.
The Hawks fell to 5/47 when Hammond made way for four.
