HAMILTON entered its Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) semi-final against Macarthur at Dahl Turf with home ground advantage and was expected to account for the visitors on current form, but as we all know, matches are not played on paper and the Macarthur players had a belief that they could carry out the game plan.
The coin fell in favour of Hamilton and Brandon Weatherson had little hesitation in opting to bat on a surface that looked chock full of runs. When both teams had settled in for the opening salvos, little did they know of the carnage that was to follow.
Kyle Smitten opened the match from the northern end of the ground and the youngster had a full head of steam, as he delivered an over of pace and fire, but the two Hamilton batsmen, Anthony Read and Simon Sharrock, were equal to all laid before them.
Kyall Timms - two-time winner of the Christie Medal as the best player in the competition – came from the southern end with a slight breeze trailing behind him that aided his inswing bowling.
Timms used his vast experience to ensure the batsmen had to play at every ball and put the pressure firmly on from ball one.
There appeared to be a willingness from Sharrock to attack at all costs, as he looked to take down his former teammates. While it is no surprise that the left hander should play this way, as he has always played with an attacking bent, he seemed to be looking to blast every ball he faced to and over the fence.
Anthony Read at the other end was looking good with the ball coming from the middle of his bat with the first five runs of the innings all coming from him.
That early breakthrough that all teams seek came in only the third over, as Sharrock turned a ball from Smitten to backward square leg to the left of Brad Sheen who swooped on the ball and took dead aim at one stump, scoring a direct hit to catch Read short of his crease in a brilliant piece of fielding.
That early wicket buoyed the Demons even more and little did they know what was to follow.
Tobi Cook has made the number three spot in the order his own over the last few summers and the tall, elegant right-hander has evolved into one of the best batsmen in the competition.
He joined Sharrock in the middle and soon found there were no nasty surprises in the surface, as the ball came onto the bat with little or no deviation.
He was able to play his signature drives, but he had trouble early in finding the gaps in the field.
He is naturally attacking and he played a sparkling drive to post the first boundary of the innings off the bowling of Smitten.
He looked to be settling in for a long stay in the middle when Timms tested him with a short ball that hurried the batsman and Cook failed to get over the top of a hook shot that sailed into the hands of Smitten at fine leg to have Hamilton 2-14 in the sixth over.
Sharrock would fall only two balls later, as Smitten found the outside edge of his bat and Matt Lindsay did the rest behind the stumps.
Daniel Jones joined Mick Ross in the middle and the Macarthur players were at the top of their game.
Jones lasted only two deliveries, as Smitten blasted through his defences to clean bowl the talented all-rounder for the first duck of the day, but it would not be the last.
With the top order having collapsed and the board showing 4-16, Robbie Cook joined forces with Ross looking to stage a rescue mission.
It wasn’t to be though, as Timms tempted the veteran to play at a ball outside his off stump that could have been left alone and Lindsay had his second catch of the afternoon.
By now there had been only ten overs and 21 runs scored, but the loss of five wickets seemingly shut the hosts from the match unless a partnership could be staged to have the side post a target they could defend.
Carl Rhook was now in the middle along with Ross and they played very conservatively, as they let the ball go and defended stoutly when called upon.
The batsmen were prepared it seemed to tough it out against the new ball pair who were left to bowl extended spells given the circumstances.
As the clock ticked over the first hour of the match, further disaster would befall the home side as Rhook (zero) departed to hand Smitten his third scalp of the day. He would end his spell with 3-12 and Hamilton all but done at 6-25.
Ross and Hamish Cook would carry the side through to the drinks break without further loss, but there were only 43 runs on the board
Despite the rocky start, they knew runs would come if they could bat time.
Ross used his experience to defy the Demons and Cook looked a player content to play through the ‘V’ as he offered a broad bat to all deliveries.
The young all-rounder was in fine touch while Ross looked as if he could bat all day as they defied the trend of the innings.
It was going to take a mistake to separate them and it came in the 28th over, as Cook played the ball into the offside and called for the run only to see Ross well short of his ground after Ollie Wortley swooped on the ball at cover to run out the Hamilton top-scorer for 28.
Brandon Weatherson and Jack McRae came and went within the space of five balls and it was left to the youngest players in the home side – Cook and Caleb Millard – to try and post a score the bowlers could defend.
They played well but it was always only a matter of time and with the reintroduction of Timms into the attack, the end came quickly, as he bowled Cook for 19 to end his hour-long innings and Hamilton were all out for 69.
Timms and Smitten collected three wickets each, while Brad Sheen delivered a fine spell of slow swing bowling to only go for 20 runs from his allotted overs, as the Macarthur players strode from the ground to the applause of the spectators.
Despite their seemingly hopeless plight, the Hamilton players took the field looking to inflict as much damage on the Macarthur line-up as possible and just maybe posting an unlikely victory.
Daniel Jones took the new ball from the northern end, as Matt Timms took strike.
The bowler would have the final say in matters as Jones had the Demons opener nicked off to hand McRae the simplest of dismissals behind the stumps with the home side and their supporters erupting at the first ball wicket.
Michael Brilley joined Oliver Wortley and like all good number three batsmen, he had to assume the role of opening batsman after the first ball wicket.
Jones didn’t need a warm up over, as he dropped onto a brilliant line and length that tested the batsmen with every ball.
The batsmen were prepared to let the ball go, as the Hamilton bowlers maintained a diligent line just outside the off stump and they weren’t going to be tempted into making the mistakes their hosts had made earlier.
That’s not to say that the batsmen didn’t make mistakes and Jones did find the edge of Brilley’s bat, but the ball fell just short of a diving Anthony Read at first slip in what was really only a half chance of a wicket.
The Hamilton bowlers refused to be defeated without a fight and they ensured the batsmen earnt every run but the score was never defendable. Even though curator Jarrod Dawson and his team of volunteers produced a brilliant surface for the match, the Hamilton players simply failed at the wrong time of the season after being so successful throughout.
Brilley (49-not-out) and Wortley (19-not-out) combined for the highest partnership of the match and also posted the winning runs, as the entire match took only 60 overs to complete.
Eagles book date with destiny
COLLEGE has booked its place in the HDCA A grade final and assumed favouritism for the premiership after defeating a determined St Andrew’s on Saturday in the other semi-final.
The Eagles enter the final having played a tough semi-final against St Andrew’s, who refused to be daunted by the task ahead of them, as Charles Murrie won the toss for the home side and sent the visitors in to bat.
Brendan Huf and Jordan Van Dooren strode to the middle looking to get the side away to a solid start and they were greeted with another great batting wicket prepared by curator, Heath Schmidt, who may have been surprised that his skipper chose not to have first use of the wicket.
Instead, Murrie had backed his team to chase targets all season long and so it would be in the semi-final.
Huf cracked the second ball of the match to the fence as Lachie Watt offered too much width and the Drews were away.
Both opening batsmen are known to value their wicket and they make the opposition bowlers earn success against them.
The pair were cautious in the opening overs, as the score mounted slowly against an attack that dropped quickly onto a line and length that made scoring difficult.
It would take until the eighth over before the batsmen made a mistake and it would come in their running between the wickets, as the pair set off for a second run only to find a Jack Austin throw catching Van Dooren short of his ground and the Drew’s were 1-19.
Huf was joined by his great mate, Damien Logan, and the pair were set to record another large partnership as they refused to be dismissed.
They carried the side through to the drinks break but with the score only on 59 they were behind where they would have wanted to be at the stage of the innings.
This was due to some outstanding bowling from the College attack who dropped onto a line and length that made scoring very difficult.
The positive for the Drews was that they had wickets in hand and could attack in the second half of the innings.
The pair took the score to 102 in the 32nd over when Ross Milne finally had his man, as Logan failed to get over the ball and he was well caught by Hamish Bailey for 35.
As can happen after a long partnership, the next man in, Jacob Hill, was in and out quickly as Austin swooped for his second run out of the innings to have Hill gone for a duck.
When Huf raised his bat for his seventh score of 50+ this season, it looked likely the Drews skipper would carry on to another century, but on 64 his two-hour innings came to an end after Henry Bensch trapped the batsman in front of his stumps, and the Drew’s were 4-122 halfway through the 38th over.
From there the lower order was looking for as many runs as possible and the College attack was still not going to relent and hand them easy scoring possibilities.
The final score of 9-159 (cc) was below par for the venue but also it was defendable if the visitors maintained the same line and length that College had done and if the team held all their catches.
Latham Wishart provided the impetus required when he claimed the wicket of Heath Schmidt from the second ball of the second over of the innings, as he found the edge of the bat and presented Simon Hatherall with a simple catch behind the stumps.
He then had Jack Austin (four) trapped LBW in his third over to have the Eagles tottering at 2-21 in the sixth over, but Charles Murrie and Hamish Bailey were now at the wicket.
Murrie as usual was blasting the ball to all parts of the ground, but he also tempered that aggression with stout defence.
The Eagles skipper should have been on his way much earlier than he was, as the Drews put down three catches offered by the batsman and this is a player that must not be given a second chance, let alone a third and fourth.
Murrie would stroke eight boundaries and his customary maximum, but he was gone the very next ball after raising his bat to acknowledge the applause for his 50 when Damien Logan trapped him in front of his stumps for 52.
At 3-77 halfway through the 19th over, College held the upper hand, but if St Andrew’s could winkle out Bailey, then they may have been able to run through the Eagles batting order.
It wasn’t to be though, as Bailey and Russell Bennett (19) added 47 for the fourth wicket before Bennett failed to beat a Jacob Hill throw and was run out.
Bailey carried on to record yet another 50 and when the winning runs were scored, he was undefeated on 57, guiding the side through to claim a place in the season decider.
Wishart was the only bowler to grab multiple wickets and the Drews fought bravely to the end, but the target was always 20-30 runs shy of what was needed.
