Paynesville and St Mary’s Nagle played a dramatic tie at the AJ Freeman Reserve last Saturday during round seven of the Bairnsdale Cricket Association.
Chasing 161 for victory, Paynesville was 9/158 when tailender Jake Keown clipped a ball off Nagle captain Ricky Tatnell towards the square leg fence. However unfortunately non striker, Jordan Hegarty dropped his bat at the completion of the second run which levelled the scores, becoming disorientated, confusion set in. With Keown already committed for the third, Hegarty was unable to make his ground at the strikers end, run out despite a full length dive, with the scores tied at 160 apiece.
Both sides, umpires and spectators were amazed at the final straw in a dramatic 20 minutes of cricket.
Paynesville looked to be cruising to victory at 6/153, with gun bat Nathan Schoultz on 63 and James Allen on 17.
After hitting Harvey Spaxman for consecutive maximums and a boundary, the unthinkable happened, Schoultz caught at backward point after trying to play an expansive reverse sweep. Spaxman was vital picking up (6/53).
The next ball Gulls vice captain Campbell Holland was adjudged leg before, much to his dismay, and the score was suddenly 8/153.
Allen decided he was going to take the matter into his own hands. After giving a difficult caught and bowled chance, he played a missed before testing his luck once too often and getting clean bowled by Tatnell (2/41).
Keown (7 not out) looked set to right the ship home only for the unthinkable to happen, the Gulls left to rue a missed opportunity for a second win of the season and a chance to leapfrog
Nagle on the ladder.
Earlier Rod Clack (27 from 15) holed out to Spaxman when he looked set to end the game quickly in unison with Schoultz with the game on the Gulls terms.
Nagle was happy to escape with a tie in a match that looked out of its grasp 30 minutes prior.
