PARNELL STRIKE LATE TO KICKSTART SEASON

October 28, 2018. With cricket having now commenced all over the city, Three Wicket stress levels have gone through the roof. Where to go? Who to watch? Sometimes you have to let the people decide. To Instagram I went with my dilemma and one of Parnell’s newest recruits was the first to respond; Shore Road was as good a place as any to catch Round Two of Jeff Crowe Cup Action.

Coming off a stuttering chase last week, Parnell hosted a Cornwall side that had despatched Waitakere in double-quick time just seven days ago. There is always intrigue seeing teams for the first time of any season and this promised to be the match of the round – notable names, contrasting form and the impending torrential rain.

Parnell won the toss and decided to bat first. With terrible weather forecast and the advantages of chasing with possible Duckworth Lewis Stern involvement, it seemed an odd decision. Rain does funny things to cricketers. There are those who don’t play for the rain and others, like me, who want all the details of rain and run-rates. More on this later.

The beauty of cricket – and sport in general – is that every game offers a fresh start and Parnell showed few signs of last week’s batting woes. Wides kicked Parnell off. Ben Rae then edged twice past second slip to the third man boundary – one slightly aerial, the other down before the waiting catchers. If his start was scratchy, it wasn't to be for long.

Ben Rainger drove firmly through the covers. It proved an early test of the long outfield. It was slow and with the wicket on the extreme edge of one side of the square, Parnell’s quality running between the wickets was evident. The two o-Ben-ers pushed hard turning ones into twos. Off-spinner Teja Nidamanuru kept things tight and at 43/0, honours were even after ten overs.

Rae was quick to pounce on anything short and was particularly strong through the leg-side. Cornwall felt they had Rainger in the 11th over, when a Matt Quinn bouncer appeared to graze the left-handers gloves. Cornwall had gone up as one and despite a rather loud oh, cmon from one of the fielders, the umpire remained unmoved.

The lads from the foot of One Tree Hill desperately needed a breakthrough and they rang the changes to find one. Parnell, though, built away slowly and Rae and Rainger were in a race to fifties. It wasn’t until the 23rd over – an over that went for 13 – that Parnell looked in control.

In the 29th over, luck finally favoured Fanie de Villiers. Rainger (62) was shocked to see an inside edge dribbled onto his leg stump. Cornwall barely celebrated. Flynn McGregor-Sumpter (39) started positively with forceful pulls through the onside and with 15 overs to go, Parnell were 175/1 and ready to launch.

Cornwall set some confusing fields. For the majority of the innings, even with Parnell well and truly on top, they persisted with six-three offside fields and two backward points. To Cornwall’s credit, they were unwavering in their approach, and at times it worked, but it ultimately allowed Parnell to pick off singles and twos with ease during the middle overs.

With set batsmen at the wicket, 300 was on the cards. Rae approached his hundred and deserved to take his time in doing so. At the same time, Parnell needed to find the fence. It took Andy Lane hitting 16 off three balls – 6, 6, 4 – to get the score moving again. Rae (105) clipped a single to deep-square and it was an appropriate way to bring up a fine and patient hundred.

Try as they might, the death overs weren’t as fruitful as they should have been. Lance Rodrigues grabbed three late wickets to help keep Parnell to 268/6 – 30 less than they would have liked.

After a comfortable, yet quiet start, Cornwall wound up in early trouble. Evan Jones’ frantic innings came to an end as McGregor-Sumpter settled under a tricky running catch. Nidamanuru flashed at a wide-one and Amit Dhadwal chopped one onto his leg-stump to reduce Cornwall to 37/3.

The temperature had dropped and rain seemed increasingly likely. I would love to know what inspired what came next. The rain? Or the fact Cornwall had been backed into a corner? With constant drizzle from the fifteenth over onwards, you could see the sides jostling for position. The Parnell spinner came on and de Villiers took the long handle to a Parnell attack that had controlled the game. He played a big part in taking 51 runs from five overs. Even while the hit was on, Parnell attempted to rush through the minimum twenty overs to constitute a match.

Either side of a misjudged chance at long-off, de Villiers hit three sixes in as many overs. With his 28-ball fifty, he put Cornwall in front of the par score and had the game in his hands. His teammates knew it and motioned for him to rein it in. On 60, he swiped at one too many and Ganesh Ratnasabapathy snuck one through. You couldn’t blame de Villiers; he was the one to have given them hope.

There was still hope that the rain would clear and cricket itself would determine a winner, but it was still spitting. Play went on with Sam Crooks and Sam Anderson at the wicket. Parnell were in front, but a five – buzzers after a run-out chance at the bowlers end – and a four through the covers kept it interesting.

By now, spit had turned into rain and there was even thunder about. Dean van Deventer, whose figures probably hadn’t warranted him bowling a fourth over, found a way through the defences of Anderson. It was the match-winning moment. The rain intensified and the players came from the pitch.

Courtesy of a dodgy online Duckworth Lewis Stern calculator and the general feeling around the ground at the time, it appears Cornwall were ahead by two runs before that final ball. The wicket changed everything and Parnell ended up winning by 20 runs (DLS). It showed that sometimes it’s good to know the details and at other times it’s better just to play the ball as it comes. On the balance of play, Parnell probably deserved to win. They controlled the game whereas Cornwall were always scrapping to stay in the contest.