By David Nagel
Pakenham (8/282) has qualified for its first CCCA Premier Division grand final in four years after the Lions produced a ‘best-of-the-season’ team performance against Kooweerup (2002) at Denhams Road.
So long reliant on its two big guns – Chris Smith and Dale Tormey – several Lions emerged from the shadows on the weekend to shimmer in the ‘semi-final’ spotlight.
Smith (19) and Tormey (19); numbers one and two on the CCCA run-scorers list this season, were the first two to go after Tormey won the toss and elected to bat first.
Kooweerup made a bold selection call heading into the semi-final showdown, with skipper and gun all-rounder Luke McMaster picked to play despite being absent on day one; attending a wedding.
McMaster’s absence didn’t affect the Demons early, with Nathan Voss (3/57) enticing Smith to pull a shortish ball to Suchintha Lakshan at mid-wicket, before Jess Mathers (3/57) trapped Tormey in front of his stumps to make it 2/89.
What the Demons didn’t count on was Lions’ opener Jack Anning (61) surging past his previous highest score of 33 this season.
Anning played with a new-found freedom; hitting the quicks through the off-side for boundaries, while punishing anything short from the spinners through the leg side.
Kooweerup pushed through the overs early, with the shortened run-ups of Mathers, Steven Dillon (1/48) and Matt Bright (0/35) contributing to 44 overs being bowled prior to tea.
Anning was unbeaten on 58 off 138 balls at the tea break, while Rob Elston (21) was five off 36 as he steadfastly preserved his wicket.
Elston was soon five of 42, after a maiden from Dillon commenced the second session of play, but it was obvious the Lions were beginning to play more shots.
A full-ball from Dillon enticed Anning into a drive; with the right-arm ‘dart-thrower’ holding on to a hot chance off his own bowling.
The Lions were 3/111, with premiership captain Dom Paynter (28) joining Elston at the crease.
The experienced pair played patiently to begin with, but 29 runs in four overs – from overs 50 to 53 – uncovered a renewed intent.
But the run-rate would soon slow again, with Elston unlucky to pick out Lakshan with a bullet-like pull-shot to the square-leg boundary.
Paynter would soon follow, trapped in front by a full-ball from Voss; the Lions precariously placed at 5/154 after 58 overs.
We were now at a stage of the innings where the Lions had faltered this season, with anything from 180 to 230 appearing to be in the ball-park.
Stuart Johnson (16) and Jason Williams (52 not out) then compiled a rock-solid 30-run stand that ensured the Lions would at least have something to bowl at.
Johnson then edged a short-wide delivery from Adam McMaster (1/62) through to Chris Bright behind the stumps; the Lions 6/184, with one ball left in the 65th.
It was a ball that would encapsulate the final 15 overs of the Lions’ innings.
Sean Gramc (47) leant on a full ball from McMaster and it raced to the cover boundary for four; the perfect beginning to an innings if you’ve ever seen one.
Gramc was immediately striking above 100, and would never slip below that mark as he dominated a 63-run stand with Williams.
Gramc crunched three fours and four towering sixes, leading the Lions to 6/247 when he was dismissed from just the 37th ball of his innings.
Williams and Nick Sadler (14) then immediately continued the assault, with 35 runs coming from the final four overs of the innings.
Williams played the perfectly-paced knock; taking 13 off the final over from Voss to give the Lions the clear upper hand.
Despite the enormous chase, Kooweerup was confident; owning the three-highest run-chases in the CCCA Premier Division this season.
The Demons hunted down 234 against Merinda Park in round 13; 228 against Devon Meadows in round 12, and importantly 217 against Pakenham at this same venue in round five.
The pressure was on Luke McMaster (0) to make runs, after his absence certainly swelled the scoreboard on day one.
But his early dismissal set the tone for the day-two drama.
Marcus Martini (1/34) bowled McMaster a hip-high ball, on an off-stump line, which the opener tried to smack through mid-wicket for a boundary.
His top-edge flew high to backward square-leg, with mid-wicket fielder Johnson in hot pursuit.
Johnson took a magnificent catch; setting the standard for the Lions’ fielding…which also reached ‘season-best’ heights.
Suchintha Lakshan (5) soon came and went, and when Chris Bright (29) chopped-onto his stumps off Sadler (1/27) the Lions were up and about.
That intensity soon reached fever pitch when Paynter wound back the clock, gathering cleanly and delivering a perfectly executed underarm throw to find Dillon (0) a long way short of his ground.
Opener Lachie Ramage (37) watched it all unfold; the Demons now 4/50 and in a world of trouble.
Ramage soon found an able ally in Gamini Kumara (45), the pair putting on 62 for the fifth wicket before Ramage flicked one to mid-wicket and took off for a single.
Kumara refused the option, leaving Ramage stranded after a patient innings of 146 balls.
Kumara was then clean bowled by Smith (1/37), bringing Mitch Davey (23) to join Adam McMaster (56) at the crease.
The required run-rate crept to a tick over seven per over, but when McMaster took 16 off Williams (0/53) in the 66th, the Demons required 91 runs with 14 overs in the tank.
But Tormey had seen enough, replacing Williams with himself and snaring two wickets with the first two balls of his new spell.
He had Davey caught by Gramc on the mid-wicket boundary, before squeezing under the bat of Mathers (0).
Tormey was on a hat-trick but, more importantly, had basically ended the game as a contest.
That was confirmed when Elston flicked off the bails for a brilliant leg-side stumping – to remove the dangerous Adam McMaster – before a delighted Tormey (3/23) made it three wickets in eight balls with the wicket of Nathan Voss (4).
After missing finals in 2021, and losing to Cardinia the last two years, Tormey was thrilled for the Lions to be back on the biggest stage of all.
“We’ve fallen at this stage for the last two years, and missed out on finals before that, so it’s great to be there again,” Tormey explained.
“Obviously 280 (282) was a big target, but being Kooweerup we knew they were never out of the game.
“They were four for fifty, then six for nearly 200; you never take anything for granted against Kooweerup.
“It’s always a tough game against them; we’re always up against it and that’s what makes it so special to get the win.”
Tormey fired back when it was suggested that the Lions reliance on he and Smith was unhealthy, and having faced 52-percent of the Lions’ balls this season.
“Yes they’re facts, but you can look into stats any way you want,” Tormey said.
“We finished top two in the comp, with him opening and me batting at three, so obviously we get the opportunity to face the most amount of balls.
“Some games we were two for a lot, and there’s not much time for blokes to bat time and score runs.
“Anyone who plays cricket knows it’s not easy to go out there and score runs straight away.
“We’ve always known that players like Boof (Jason Williams) and Sean (Gramc), Jack (Anning), they’ve got the ability; they show it at training and they’ve shown glimpses in games, and yesterday they all showed what they can do.
“It’s a perfect preparation going into a grand final.
“Obviously Chris (Smith) and I failing wasn’t ideal, but to see Jack, Boof and Seany all score their top runs for the season was really important.
“For us to post nearly 300, with Chris and I contributing 38 runs, shows that we do have that depth and balance that people have been talking about as lacking.”
He also praised his young opening bowlers, Martini and James Close for their output.
“They’ve come along in leaps and bounds and they did super today,” Tormey said.
“They just bowl their areas, but they knew there was a lot riding on their shoulders today, especially against a team like Kooweerup.
“Luke (McMaster) at the top, Wombat (Chris Bright) at four, they come out and play their shots…especially chasing 300.
“They did unbelievably well; and even the boundaries that did get hit, they weren’t from bad balls.
“They were good cricket shots and players are allowed to play good cricket shots; that’s the standard we’re playing and good balls can get hit for four.
“They got the early rewards and that set us up really well.
“All the boys put their bodies on the line in the field and I couldn’t have asked for more.”
This was Pakenham’s first finals win since defeating this year’s grand final opponent Tooradin in the 2020 semi-final.
