SUBURBS TRIUMPH IN BATTLE OF THE WEST

December 12, 2018. Plans. Tactics. Strategies. Mostly great ideas until they come unstuck. The problem with a blueprint is that it is reliant on follow-through and, in cricket terms, controlling your opponents. Plans rarely unfold accordingly in T20. Tactics often go out the window. Strategies must be adapted. Waitakere and Suburbs New Lynn know each other well. It all went down at Te Atatu Park.

Dry pitch. Three spinners. Fading light. Waitakere came into the match with a clear gameplan. Bat first. Runs on the board. Spin to win. After the covers were removed in between showers, Rob Evans won the toss and said, yes, we will bat first. Shozib Mirza squirted the first delivery through point to get Waitakere underway. As the throw returned to the wicket, it caught the edge of the artificial for early buzzers.

Luke Devereaux was all over Nathan Fletcher in his first over – thrice beating the outside edge. Fletcher responded aggressively by swatting a six over long on. The next ball skewed safely over the offside. Oddly enough, no single was taken even though the ball was fielded on the bounce by deep cover. I suspect Fletcher thought it was carrying to the man in the deep.

Suburbs settled in on a tidy length and Devereaux would play a key role in pegging Waitakere back. The tall opening bowler combined with Eli Meenhorst for Suburbs’ first two wickets. Mirza tried to access the offside and spooned a chance at wide mid-off. Two balls later, a leading edge flew beyond the ring as Meenhorst again tracked back to take a fine catch high above his head.

The sixth over – the last of the powerplay – proved every bit the trickiest over to bowl. Fletcher targeted the Devereaux once again whipping a six off his legs before dragging a slower ball for four to a similar area on the legside. Jared Challis got in on the act chipping a boundary down the ground to take 18 off the over.

It didn’t take long for Suburbs to regain control. Mitchell Murray bowled a tight and full seventh before Fletcher picked out Martin Guptill at long-on. It was only debutant Sean Playle’s third ball in Premier Cricket. A comical run-out followed. Jonny Bassett-Graham called for a kegball. The ball floated towards a fielder, skipped past and the batsmen misjudged a second. A long throw went to the keeper's end and the celebrations represented more than just a wicket. Beers were on Jonny. Waitakere were 40/4.

Get through these overs, lads. We’re the ones who will have to bat in the dark. There is always an urgency to getting through the overs. A respectable total – and by extension, the match – was on the bat of JChallis. He found his range during the 10th over when he slog-swept Playle over the legside for a pair of sixes. He repeat the dose off Murray two overs later as he took a liking to the short boundary on that side of the ground.

The slog-sweep had been working for JChallis (35), but the regular sweep would prove his downfall. A gentle paddle around the corner ended with square leg taking a comfortable catch.

It was the big wicket for Suburbs. Wickets then tumbled regularly as Watson (3-12) and Meenhorst eventually wrapped up the tail. Martin Guptill took a fantastic diving catch – one he looked to have misjudged. Bassett-Graham hung on to a high ball on the deep, deep, deep midwicket boundary and Meenhorst disturbed some timber in the last over. Waitakere were bowled out for 111 with a ball to spare.

It never felt like enough. Suburbs three spinners had been highly effective, so skipper Evans threw JChallis the ball early. It took five balls for Waitakere’s hopes to be raised. Evans settled under a simple catch and Suburbs were 5/1. Joe Cracknell took it upon himself to get the innings moving. He drove boldly through the covers – twice aerially – hitting three boundaries in seven balls. Cracknell allowed Guptill to take his time, and take his time he did.

There was a second moment of hope for Waitakere when Cracknell was superbly caught on the wide long-on boundary. Jack Henderson settled himself, reached out partially over the boundary and snaffled the chance. Suburbs were fractionally behind after the powerplay and the crowd expected some big blows from Guptill, but some also understood that Suburbs were doing what they needed to do.

A Guptill slog-sweep finally came in the tenth over – a huge bomb over the player’s tent. Evans brought himself into the attack and James Parslow immediately enjoyed the extra pace on the ball. Back-to-back-to-back boundaries – a square drive through backward point, a flick over midwicket and a slash past third man – moved Suburbs to the brink of victory.

Guptill did the rest bringing up his fifty with a well-timed pull before caressing a cut in front of point to hit the winning runs. Suburbs won by eight wickets with the best part of four overs remaining. Waitakere were rarely in the contest. While Suburbs initially chipped away at the total, there was always the sense that Guptill (58*) and Parslow (30*) had the chase under control.