By David Nagel
Vulnerability to weather is cricket’s one huge weakness and it was exposed once again as persistent rain on Sunday brought a halt to semi-final action in the CCCA Premier Division.
Just three weeks after an ‘Extreme’ Fire Danger Rating saw an abandonment of play in round 13; players were made to sit idle once again as the force of mother nature had its say.
The final washup – pardon the pun – is that Cardinia will now host Tooradin in a mouth-watering conclusion to the 2024/25 season.
The Bulls (0/29) were in a dominant position against Pakenham (133) at Gunton Oval as stumps were pulled on day one after Matt Welsh (5/22 off 14) and Yohan Arumadura (3/18 off 11) knocked the stuffing out of the Lions’ batting order.
Things started well for Pakenham, with skipper Jack Anning (8) taking six from the first over of the match; including a glorious punch behind point for four.
The Lions were keeping their heads above water at 0/22 off seven, although star opener Chris Smith (16) was clearly hampered with his running between the wickets after returning from a bursitis injury in his knee.
The Bulls struck their first blow of the match in the eighth over, with Anning caught behind the wicket by Bradey Welsh off the bowling of Josh Browne (1/17 off 9).
The Lions were 1/24 off the first block of 10, but the Bulls made serious inroads in the second phase of the match.
Browne continued to bowl tidily from the Ballarto Road end, while the inclusion of Arumadura proved a masterstroke from Bulls’ skipper Mark Cooper.
Arumadura first claimed the massive wicket of Smith; enticing him down the wicket and hitting into the safe hands of John Nooy at a half-way-back mid-on.
Just two overs later, Zac Chaplin (0) decided to aggressively sweep the seventh ball of his innings and paid the consequences; hitting straight to Josh Grogan behind square.
The Lions lost 2/7 in the second block of 10 as the Bulls began to take a stranglehold on the match.
Things soon got worse for the visitors when Dom Paynter (8) emulated Smith’s dismissal almost to a tee; hitting Arumadura to an appreciative Nooy at mid-on.
The Lions first four dismissals had all come via loose shots that didn’t need to be played.
Country Week stalwart Jason Williams (60) and the free-scoring Nick Sadler (15) then gave the Lions their best period of the match, putting on a 49-run stand in 15 overs for the fifth wicket.
The Lions were 4/91 – half way through their allotted 80 overs – but things soon fell apart in a hurry.
Matt Welsh bowled beautifully from the Ballarto Road end; claiming the first of his five wickets in the fourth over of his spell when Sadler flicked one in the air to Trishane De Silva behind square leg.
Skipper Cooper (1/22 off 16) had joined the fray by now, playing a wonderful support role for the dangerous Welsh.
The pair would bowl 29 overs in tandem; with Welsh taking all of his wickets during a bowling partnership that claimed 5/50 at 1.73 runs per over.
Welsh added Rob Elston (1) to his hit list, caught behind the stumps by brother Bradey; who took a sharp chance standing up close to the wicket.
Sendhil Naidu (6) and Marcus Martini (0) were then both clean bowled – driving and playing-and-missing respectively – before Williams finally succumbed to Welsh after 173 balls at the crease.
The number-three was the only player to really dig deep for the cause; with his wafting flick to Grogan at mid-on the complete juxtaposition to the remainder of his innings.
Cooper then took a well-deserved first wicket, enticing James Close (5) to dance down the wicket and hit straight to Arumadura in the covers.
The Lions had wasted 15 overs of batting time; losing their last six wickets for 40 runs.
Alex (13 not out) and John Nooy (15 not out) then survived the remaining 12 overs to stumps; the Bulls cruising to 0/29 at the close of play.
Cooper was proud of his team’s performance, with the threat of rain on Sunday having the potential to take their collective minds off the job at hand.
“We went through different scenarios about what it might look like over the two days; two days, not one day,” Cooper explained of the Bulls’ focus.
“It was about what we can do and what we’re in control of and trying to implement that on Saturday and then reassessing things for Sunday.
“There were definitely those building blocks at the start to make sure we focussed on a 160-over game and doing our part on that first day.
“We executed well and stuck to the plans that were set.”
Despite not having the chance to rectify things on day two, this completed a poor finish to the season for Pakenham; bowled out for 96 and 133 against Tooradin and the Bulls respectively.
They won just two of their last seven completed matches for the season.
Smith (518 runs) and Paynter (483) were the main contributors with the bat, while off-spinner Williams (21 wickets) and promising young-leggie Jordan Seers (19) did most damage with the ball.
The Lions just don’t possess the fire-power to take early wickets; with a damaging fast-bowler sure to be at the top of their shopping list in the off-season.
As for Cardinia, well the Bulls now have an unblemished record since 11 January as they look to claim their fifth top-flight premiership since the turn of the century.
Cooper piloted the Bulls to premierships in 2006/07 and 2008/09 and will look to add a remarkable ninth title as captain-coach across eight different clubs.
The Bulls should go in confident after a thumping win over Tooradin in round 11, with Matt Welsh the latest to be hitting form at precisely the right time of year.
