Steve McMorran
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Final: Wellington v Canterbury at Wellington, 2 Feb 2002 Steve McMorran |
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Wellington innings:
Canterbury innings: Pre-game: |
If catches win matches then one of the greatest catches ever seen at the Basin Reserve, by Mayu Pasupati to dismiss Aaron Redmond, tipped the scales of the match faintly in Wellington's favour.
Redmond hooked a poor ball from the spinner Mark Jefferson aerially towards backward square and Pasupati, making remarkable ground 10m in from the boundary, dived full length and claimed the catch in one hand while airborne and 10 feet above the ground.
The dismissal left Cantebury 104-6 after 32 overs, chasing Wellington's total of 200-9. At one point, with Paul Wiseman at the crease, they had been 73-1 and making slow but comfortable progress in their run chase.
At drinks, taken after 35 overs, Canterbury were 112-6 and this remarkable match, a series of switchbacks of fortune, had turned again towards Wellington.
Wellington should have made far more than the 200 runs they placed before Canterbury but they tumbled steeply from 146-1 to 192-9 before finishing 200-9 after 50 overs.
Canterbury, led by Wiseman made a measured but confident reply but, again, their innings faltered in its middle stages.
'Wiseman was out when they were 73, lbw to Paul Hitchcock, then Peter Fulton followed for 29 when they were 93.
The vital wicket was that of Gary Stead, the leading batsman in Shield averages, who was brilliantly run out by David Sales in the 28th over.
Gareth Hopkins was out in the 31st over, caught by Paul Hitchcock at backward point off Jefferson _ a dismissal that needed the verification of the third umpire _ and Canterbury were 103-5.
Pasupati's breathtaking catch in th e 33rd over, removing Redmond for 6, pushed Canterbury closer to the brink of the precipice.
Canterbury were 59-1 when drinks were taken after 17 overs. Wiseman was 37 not out and Peter Fulton 15 not out.
Canterbury's total represented a run rate of 3.47 runs per over and left them needing 4.3 runs per over for victory but that was hardly onerous with so many runs in hand.
Wiseman had faced 57 balls for his 37 runs and had hit four boundaries. Fulton, tall and technically sound, had 15 from 34 overs.
Canterbury's progress was slow but it could afford to be faced with such a middling total. At one point their were only six scoring shots in five overs but Canterbury were prepared to accumulate slowly with overs and wickets in hand.
Ashley Turner bowled an opening spell of six overs at a cost of 19 runs while Andrew Penn bowled seven overs for 23 runs, claiming Shanan Stewart's wicket.
Stewart was out in the fifth over attempting to leave a ball from Penn which cut back, caught his glove and carried to wicketkeeper Chris Nevin.
A 117-run second wicket partnership between David Sales and Richard Jones raised Wellington into a lofty, apparently unshakeable position after 34 overs of the one-day final and after they had won the toss and batted.
But Sales' dismissal for 62 from the first ball of the 35th over heralded a middle order collapse that saw Wellington restricted to only 200-9 in their 50 overs. Canterbury will chase only 201 to win when they might have expected to pursue a much larger total.
Two brilliant catches by Darron Reekers, another by Shanan Stewart and three run outs allied with an outstanding upwind spell by leg-spinner Aaron Redmond ripped the heart from Wellington's middle order.
They had been 125-1 after 30 overs and could confidently have been expected, with wickets in hand, to double that score. Instead, they stumbled through to 200 and failed to hit a boundary in the last 11 overs of their innings.
Sales was out when Wellington was 146 after batting 129 minutes for his valuable 62, having hit six fours from 83 balls.
There followed, with startling rapidity, the loss of Grant Donaldson at 161, Matthew Walker at 167 and Richard Jones, for 71, at 172. Jones was the second batsman to fall to a brilliant catch by Darron Reekers. He slashed a ball from Aaron Redmond to long on and Reekers claimed the catch diving forward as the ball swirled in a gusting breeze.
Walker had fallen to another catch by Reekers from the bowling of Cleighton Cornelius an over earlier, caught by the diving fieldsmen running in from the fine leg boundary.
Mark Jefferson joined the queue of returning batsman at 171, Mayu Pasupati at 181 _ both were run out _ and Andrew Penn followed at 184. The last wicket to fall was that of Paul Hitchcock, also run out, when Wellington was 192. None of those players reached double figures.
Wellington captain Matthew Bell came in at No 8, dropping himself in the order to allow batsmen who score more freely to take more prominent positions in Wellington's batting lineup.
He was responsible for the run outs of Pasupati and Hitchcock, being involved in the miscommunication that led to both dismissals.
Jefferson helped by running himself out, trying to take a signal then turning back to the striker's end.
Redmond was the last of seven bowlers used by Canterbury today and the most successful. He bowled 10 overs into the difficult southeasterly breeze and finsiehd with two wickets _ those of Jones and Penn _ for 46 runs. He also effected the run out of Pasupati.
Cleighton Cornelius also bowled well in upwind and downwind spells, finishing with 2-28 from 10 overs.
Wellington came into this match hoping to shed the chokers tag which had grown around them in the long, lean seasons since they last claimed the national one day title.
The manner of their collapse suggested the reputation for wasting strong positions has not yet been properly shed.
Jones' and Sales' were their only innings of substance _ Jones' stay at the crease lasting 122 minutes and encompassing 104 balls from which he took four fours. There were only 12 fours in Wellington's innings and those scored by the top three batsmen.
Sales was out for 64 to the first ball of the 35th over, adjudged lbw to the bowling of Stephen Cunis when Wellington was 146.
He had opened the batting after Wellington had won the toss and had faced 86 balls, hit six fours, when he was out controversially. There was a suggestion the ball had cannoned onto his pad from an inside edge but umpire Mike George hadn't hesitated in supporting Canterbury's enthusiastic appeal.
Sales had been joined by Jones when Wellington was 29-1 on the dismissal of Chris Nevin, for 20, in the ninth over.
The two began slowly, at first in the thrall of an accurate Canterbury attack. But they bided their time and became more confident, more productive, when Canterbury rotated their bowlers mid innings.
The pair brought up Wellington's 100 from the fourth ball of the 26th over and Sales raised his half century, from 65 balls, from the next ball.
The 100 partnership came up from the last ball of the 31st over and Jones went on to his patient 50, from 78 balls, soon afterwards.
The partnership, which ended as drinks approached, put Wellington in a firm position in the match. They were 94-1 after 25 overs and 125-1 after 30, after which point they might be expected to double their score.
Sales produced a variety of scoring shots after a watchful start. He took many runs squarish or just behind point and more obliquely through gully and third man.
But he then began to play an array of forcing shots forward of the wicket and clubbed serveral balls through mid wicket as his scoring hurried along more urgently.
Wellington were scoring at slightly more than four runs per over when drinks were taken, with Grant Donaldson joining Jones, but had valuable wickets in hand and the consequent ability to biuild a large innings.
The weather began to impose its presence on the match as drinlks neared. The canopy of clouds closed over the Basin Reserve, the temperature dropped and rain impended.
Wellington was 155-2 at the second drinks break in their innings. Jones was 63 not out and Donaldson six.
Nevin, who had been the pacemaker of the innings, was out for 20 to the fourth ball of the ninth over, the only victim of an economical opening spell from Chris Martin.
His dismissal brought together Richard Jones and English professional David Sales who struggled to achieve any scoring tempo against a probing attack and on a relatively low pitch.
Wellington was 58-1 at drinks with Sales 29 not out and Jones, who had played and missed repeatedly in the last over of Martin's first spell, surviving a confident appeal for caught behind, was 7. The Wellington 50 came up in the 17th over and two fours to Sales in the 18th produced the first real acceleration of the scoring rate.
Sales' best scoring shot was a late dab through the unprotected gully but he is limited in the range of his shots and is often a lazy runner between wickets.
Jones seemed unsettled at first but he gritted his teeth and did his best to protect Wellington against a further early loss.
Nevin was out in a manner which has become usual for him this season. Attempting to keep up some scoring pace, he leaned back to a delivery just short of a length and tried to force the ball through the on-side field.
The ball hit high up the bat and looped gently to Canterbury captain Gary Stead at mid-on. Nevin had faced 36 balls and hit two fours.
Martin's first spell was an extended and good one. He bowled seven overs, one a maiden, and took 1-25.
The day in Wellington remained overcast and cool though the strong southerly easterly wind had subsided. There was no immediate threat of rain.
The strip is the one used for the Boxing Day test against Bangladesh and which was recycled for the Shield match against Auckland last month in which almost 600 runs were scored.
But the pitch might have confounded analysis because it presents an oddly grey and shiny appearance, having been glued together to ensure it lasts throughout today's match.
Wellington's decision to bat on winning the toss was still expected. If the pitch does anything predictably, it is likely to become slower as the game proceeds.
Jeetan Patel was named in his accustomed role as Wellington's 12th man and Mark Gillespie was left out entirely from Wellington's squad of 13. The team is therefore unchanged from that which met Auckland in the last round of Shield matches eight days ago.
Ryan Burson was named 12th man for Canterbury while Marcel McKenzie is left out.
The day in Wellington began heavily overcast with a bank of clouds to the north and east of the Basin Reserve appearing to threaten rain. But those clouds moved away steadily to the west and north, pushed by a steady southeasterly breeze which dropped the temperature to around 15 degrees.
The crowd at the start of th ematch was slight but steadily building. More than 5000 are expected by mid-afternoon.
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 02 Feb2002 - 11:13