TAKAPUNA FIND A WAY TO THE OUTER OVAL

January 9, 2019. Sometimes I venture out to a game with little or no intention of writing it up. Last night’s T20 semi-final was certainly one of those. It was just my luck that it turned into a thriller and here I am recounting Takapuna vs. Cornwall.

Takapuna won the toss and decided to bat first. The crowd built slowly through the evening and the hosts were ready to put in a shift with Aces’ duo Rob O’Donnell and Craig Cachopa back in the mix. Cornwall had Matt Quinn, one of their Aces, return to the fold and take the new ball.

It didn’t take long for Cornwall to strike first; Teja Nidamanuru had the in-form Max O’Dowd caught at first slip. It was an odd dismissal as O’Dowd got low to sweep only for the ball to bounce up onto his glove and through to the waiting slip – having looped over the keeper to get there. It wasn’t the start Takapuna were after, but with added firepower in the line-up, it wasn’t an insurmountable hurdle.

Henrick van Vuuren took his time while Will O’Donnell found his feet at the crease; this meant Takapuna were slow to make best use of the powerplay. In that all-important sixth over, Takapuna kicked into second gear as they approached the 40 runs they were after from. WO’Donnell drove aggressively over mid-off before van Vuuren edged and swiped back-to-back boundaries.

After three fours in four balls, van Vuuren looked square off Evan Jones. He ended up on his way back to the pavilion having missed his attempt at whipping across the line. Craig Cachopa picked up the mantle of aggressor hitting two imaginative sixes – a scoop of short fine-leg and a lofted drive over extra cover.

As the third-wicket partnership was beginning to flourish, Cachopa picked out deep point with a powerful cut. It was the short boundary, but the fielder was well-placed. Cornwall persisted with their 6-3 offside fields employing some unique positions as the O’Donnell brothers prepared to up the ante.

The bombs never came. Despite passing fifty, WO’Donnell couldn’t quite find the fence with any regularity. RO’Donnell found the going a little easier hitting 4 fours including a set of back-to-back cuts through point and a scoop over short fine-leg.

140. I’ll take 140. Bowled at a lot less before. With 140, Matt Jones knew that Takapuna had a score that could challenge Cornwall. With two overs to go, Takapuna were 119/3. They still had some work to do to put their platform to use. WO’Donnell cleared extra cover and beat the sweeper to creep past 130. A straight boundary and swept three saw Takapuna through to 140/3.

Cornwall got off to a flier. Evan Jones was the man to take the game on hitting four sixes in the first seven overs. Matt Quinn said Cornwall would be confident chasing as many as 85 off the last ten overs. They wouldn't need that many. Jones’ approach suggested he might not have felt so comfortable; he was determined to reduce that required run-rate and that is exactly what he did.

At 60/0 after eight overs, Cornwall were on top and cruising into the semi-finals. WO’Donnell turned to O’Dowd in search of some Pirate magic. Evan Jones gave himself room and drove uppishly off the back foot to Elliott Herd at extra over ending the tall right-hander’s fluent fling. Jones had advanced the game for Cornwall, but the game was back in the balance when Nidamanuru advanced down the wicket and chipped a tame catch to midwicket. Cornwall had lost two in two and would need to consolidate.

Four overs later, O’Dowd struck again courtesy of an outstanding Dan James catch leaning over the mid-wicket boundary. The off-spinner had 3-7 from three overs. With an over still in his back pocket, O’Dowd was replaced by Jordan Sussex. It may have made sense to continue with the man of the moment, but the big man Sussex was ready to play his part.

The game was on the bat of Michael Guptill-Bunce. Throughout his innings, he would have many capable partners including co-captain Sam Anderson. Needing 48 runs off 30 balls, Anderson cut firmly past an outstretched backward point to get off the mark.

Back-to-back half chances went down off Matt Jones in the 18th over as Takapuna suffered from a case of Christmas Hands. Jones wouldn’t make a mistake when Anderson picked him out on the mid-wicket fence. The big-hitting Fanie de Villiers came in with 17 needed off nine and with Sussex hitting his straps. de Villiers took his leave having tried to simplify the final over equation. 13 off 7 became 13 off 6 when Cachopa calmly swallowed a catch hit straight at him.

13 needed. Ross ter Braak to bowl. Guptill-Bunce, the man for Cornwall. Wide yorker to left-handed Lucas Dasent squeezed into the offside. 12 off five. Wide yorker angled square by Guptill-Bunce for one. 11 off four. Two mowed to a diving RO’Donnell protecting the short cow-corner boundary. 9 off three. Wide yorker dragged into the leg-side, but only as far as a scrambling ter Braak who gathered both himself and the ball before hitting the stumps at the bowler’s end to run Dasent out. 9 off two. Guptill-Bunce dragged a full delivery into the leg-side. Cornwall had no choice but to run two if they wanted any hope of a last-ball tie. It wasn’t to be. Ajit Rajkumar was well short trying to get back to the bowler's end. A single came from the last ball and Takapuna were through to Sunday's final by six runs.

Takapuna used eight bowlers in all with only ter Braak getting through his four overs. It was an outstanding couple of overs from Sussex and ter Braak. When Takapuna needed dots, the pair delivered metronomic yorkers and didn’t look like conceding any boundaries. Cornwall had the game in their hands halfway through the chase, but they’ll be a few players disappointed not to have supported Guptill-Bunce through to the end.