BAARD AND BEGHIN KICKSTART PROMOTION PARTY

April 3rd, 2019. The last day of the club season is often an exercise in going through the motions. Champions have been decided, clubs have been relegated and winter is on the horizon. Saturday, though, offered a plethora of possibility. Eden Roskill and North Shore vied for the Tom Hellaby Two-Day Trophy – and with it, promotion into the big time.

Rain had been forecast for most of the week. But it had been a relatively dry week and, with little sign of Saturday morning sun, it loomed as another factor on an already big day. Eden Roskill were expected to complete a routine victory against Ellerslie. North Shore would most likely need to lead Waitakere on the first innings and then win outright to lift themselves back to the top of the table.

With all that in mind, Te Atatu was the place to be.

Graeme Beghin and nightwatchman Carl Brungar resumed at 53/3 with crucial first innings points in the balance. North Shore, still 134 runs in arrears, needed the pair to get through Waitakere’s opening burst. They did just that as the partnership swelled past fifty. The hosts went to the short ball in hope of a wicket. Beghin (51) had comfortably taken it on, until one Robert Evans bouncer caught the top edge and flew to a waiting Todd Wannan at fine leg.

Shore sent youngster Simon Keene out, ahead of their regular middle order, to make a dent into the first innings total. His three boundaries – straight down the ground and through the covers – allowed Brungar to continue towards his own half-century. Confident pulls and cuts highlighted Brungar’s knock, but it was a scampered wait-no-yes single to mid-on that lifted his side to their feet. It was a important inning. It ended soon after with the now all-rounder unluckily strangled down the leg-side for 55.

There was plenty of time left in the day. Not for North Shore though. The chase took on further urgency when news filtered through about Eden Roskill’s emphatic morning. The potential batting points from scoring 330 would no longer be enough. Jack Henderson got in on the short stuff and picked up three wickets in doing so, but North Shore had more than enough firepower to take a lead before lunch. Michael Olsen declared immediately.

If Waitakere were to lift themselves from the bottom of the table, they would need to win outright. After lunch, Rajat Kumar flayed away. He wasn’t afraid of hitting aerially and benefitted from Shore’s attacking fields. Four boundaries came in his 26 before edging Brungar through to Ben Wall behind the stumps. Mirza, by comparison, was circumspect, picking his moments to attack, but also content in holding the inning together.

Keene’s full delivery went through Brad Nash. A series of twenties from Brad Cachopa, Travis Ngatai and Henderson pushed the score past 150. Mirza (77*) brought up his first fifty of the summer and continued to find the boundary as Stephen Baard was introduced to the attack. In the lead up to tea, the declaration speculation began. Would Waitakere declare? Or was the freedom of play a reflection of the time of the year?

Tea came and, after questioning if they had enough, Waitakere declared. North Shore required 192; Waitakere had 33 overs to take ten wickets.

North Shore knew they had been given an opportunity. Wall and Baard knew they needed to set the chase off on the right foot. Waitakere put the clamps on early and the pressure told when Wall tried to lift Wannan over the top. He skied the ball no further than the ring and, after some toing and froing, Evans ran in to take the catch.

This bought Beghin to the crease. There was visible frustration when the former skipper was bounced out in the first innings. He left with work to do, so I can only imagine there was great desire to finish the job off second time around. Baard showed some exquisite timing through wide mid-on hitting three consecutive boundaries. It appeared a big moment in the match. Runs came easier after that.

By now, some of the Eden Roskill side had turned up to witness the chase. Waitakere’s bowlers operated in short spells; partly in search for breakthroughs, but also because Baard and Beghin weren’t in the mood to let them settle. Baard’s fifty came from 45 balls – his fifth of the Tom Hellaby campaign. It was an inning full of courage and class. The best, however, was yet to come.

Beghin, too, went past an elegant fifty; his slightly more sedate, but equally as fluent. Crisp drives featured heavily as Beghin regularly handed the strike over. At drinks, with fifteen overs to go, North Shore were well ahead of the chase requiring 83 runs from the final 90 balls of the summer. It sounded a simple equation, but light was quickly fading. There was no way North Shore were going off. Bad light wouldn’t intervene. Good cricket, on the other hand, would continue.

Waitakere were resigned to stemming the flow. Men were sent out to all corners of the park to reign in regular boundaries. Baard and Beghin were gapping perfectly and running Waitakere ragged. The pressure was now off Waitakere. Hopes of bowling North Shore out were now gone.

A Wannan bouncer added to a tense finish. On 90 off 74 balls, gunning down a memorable hundred, Baard hooked what looked to be a second six over deep square leg. Henderson leapt, stuck his right hand high over his head and came down with a contender for catch of the year. The crowd was stunned.

Captain Olsen then confidently strode to the wicket with 31 to get from 41 deliveries. Wannan built four dots on the back the Baard wicket. Olsen, though, has seen it all before and chipped his next delivery just over a leaping mid-off for four. From there, sensible batting resumed. It wasn’t about boundaries. Single after single edged North Shore closer. With two to get, Beghin clipped one final boundary along the ground past deep square leg.

The eight-wicket win had players and supporters on their feet. Grown men and women cried. The eyes were bright and the hugs were tight. For some, there was jubilation. For others, relief. This triumph did not come easily. In fact, over the last decade, this side has made a habit of coming close. The wait was finally over. The celebrations could begin.