By David Nagel
All the sums and equations of Saturday’s WGCA Premier Division clash between Tooradin and Pakenham at Westernport Oval add up to a comfortable Pakenham win.
The Lions two best batters, the currently imperious Chris Smith (96) and skipper Dale Tormey (59) made stylish half centuries…the only two of an absorbing round-three encounter.
On the other hand, the key piece of the Seagulls puzzle – star opener Tom Hussey – made a first-ball duck and strike bowlers Russell Lehman and Brad Butler were unable to bowl through injury.
But, despite what would seem hugely influential factors in a game of cricket between these two sides, Tooradin (9/205cc) survived a wonderful challenge from Pakenham (4/199cc) to make it two-from-two this season and leave the Lions languishing as one of three teams yet to open their account.
This game started strangely, with Lions’ opener Pat Lawson (2/36 off 7) first losing his run up and having to start again. A coughing and spluttering second attempt then resulted in a wide outside off-stump…before a third attempt was made.
And Lawson made the wait worthwhile, bowling a full-pitched outswinger that caught the edge of Hussey’s bat and sailed to a gleeful Tormey at second slip.
The Seagulls were 1/3 after one over, not one run off the bat, with the erratic – but dangerous – Lawson bowling three wides in the opening exchange of the contest.
Lawson then trapped Ben Parrott (1) in front, leaving the Seagulls 2-8 off three overs with the Lions’ new-quick looking a real handful when nailing his line and length.
Captain Cal O’Hare (22) and left-hander Josh Lownds (33) then set about re-building the home sides innings, first with some pokes and prods before Lownds delivered the first expansive shot of the day – a delightful cover drive off the bowling of off-spinner Jason Williams (0/23 off 8) in the sixth over.
Williams opened the bowling and bowled unchanged – doing a wonderful job for Tormey who is glaringly short of new-ball options.
Lownds looked set for a decent score, punishing Tom Brennan (1/31 off 6) through the leg side on numerous occasions before that shot became his undoing.
Lownds picked out Troy McDermott at mid-wicket to end a 50-run stand with O’Hare that had no doubt steadied the ship.
For the second week running Tooradin showed powerful depth with its batting, with O’Hare, Lehman (17), Tyler Evans (16) and Bailey Lownds (10) all chiming in with double-figure contributions, while Dylan Sutton (47) and Brad Butler (34 not out) had the most significant impact in the mid to late overs.
Sutton backed up his 37 not out from round two with another stylish contribution, while Butler’s ability to launch two balls to the boundary – and two sailing over it – would prove critical in the final wash up.
“He’s been great the last few years,” O’Hare said of Sutton’s contribution.
“He made team of the year last year and I think in that role, batting five, six or seven, he’s one of the best in the competition.”
Pakenham’s bowling is solid, but does lack penetration, so if Lawson doesn’t strike early it’s going to be a real patience game for Tormey and his boys this season.
Pakenham lost the early wicket of Jack Anning (0) – who has had a run-drought to start his campaign, before Smith and Tormey took the Lions to the brink of victory with a 158-run stand of pure class.
Smith looks back to his exhilarating and brilliant best – falling four runs short of a well-deserved century after a classical contribution (52) against Cardinia last week.
The elegant right-hander, who averages a tick above 40 in over 220 games of senior cricket, carved nine balls to the boundary and showed his appetite for the sublime by launching four maximums for the afternoon.
The Lions looked on track for a memorable victory before Tormey – who suffered a leg-strain during his innings – was run out by Josh Lownds, who then claimed Smith with the Lions still 17 runs short of their target.
Williams (18 not out) and Sean Gramc (3) were still in the game until the end, with Gramc departing from the last ball of an absorbing contest with the Lions six-runs short of squaring things away with the home side.
Kallan Braid-Ball (2/35 off 8) was the only multiple wicket-taker for the Gulls, but the influence of the Lownds boys – Bailey (8-1-0-24) and Josh (7-1-1-27) – should not be underestimated.
For Tooradin, this was a huge victory – against the odds in many ways – and will give it enormous confidence as it travels to Merinda Park this week.
“For all of those things to go wrong, and with Smith and Tormey’s partnership, to still get the win is a good indication of our depth,” O’Hare said.
“It was an interesting game, they always seemed in front with the bat but with runs on the board we built pressure towards the end of the game.
“The biggest challenge was who to bowl. We had no Russ (Lehman), no Buts (Butler), our two strike bowlers, and they were hitting the ball pretty well with two batters set.”
O’Hare praised the death bowling of Braid-Ball, who bowled a consistent yorker length to keep his team in the contest.
As for the Lions…they’ve shown over the last two weeks that their best is still good enough to contend, but they seem to have lost the ability – or haven’t had the luck – to do the most important thing in sport…and that’s win.
They have the third best percentage in the competition – based on wickets taken and runs scored – but that statistic can be read in many ways and doesn’t always translate to success.
Kooweerup awaits – as the Lions search for their first win of the calendar year!
