With 14 wickets falling on the first day and just under 100 required for victory, there was no way that the first session between Parkfield and HSD in the Dandenong District Turf 2 Competition was going to be stock-standard and uneventful.
Any suspicions or concerns about a mundane opening to the day were quickly dashed, as Ryan Patterson and Triyan De Silva quickly rediscovered the groove they found last week in a devastating period to close out day one and wrestle momentum back to their side’s favour.
HSD’s fielders began with sloppy misfields in Patterson’s first over and two of Triyan De Silva’s first three deliveries were front foot no-balls.
De Silva’s second over saw him remove nightwatchman Nick Jeffery, however, and the wheels quickly fell off for the Bandits.
Suliman Iqbal lasted three deliveries, then consecutive overs saw Sahan Jayawardana, Hansika Kodikara and Sheron Cooray all dismissed, with the score reading 9/50 after just nine overs of action.
For the best part of two hours, Steve Cannon and Roshane Cooray played like Parkfield’s season depended on it – you could easily argue that it did.
Parkfield, for its faults this season, proved in round eight against Coomoora that they are a side you simply cannot write off.
Cannon said the win over the Roos was an example of the “Parkfield of old’ coming to the fore, and he, alongside Roshane Cooray, threatened to steal the show once again.
Chaos turned to calm out in the middle, as Parkfield grew increasingly active and loud from the sidelines with each leave and single.
HSD was convinced that Cannon feathered a catch behind to Mackenzie Gardner that completed the match, but the umpire remained unmoved, with Gardner lying on his back in disbelief.
At 9/95 in the 55th over, Cannon and his partner had added 45 runs in 26 painstaking overs that forced Craig Hookey to return to his strike bowlers and switch their bowling ends after lengthy spells to open the day.
To have that appeal rejected further sapped energy and spirit from a lineup that had every right to be expecting centre-wicket practice by that stage in the day after Patterson and De Silva achieved five sixths of the assignment in the first 10 overs of the day.
Hookey, however, saw it differently.
“Cannon nicking it to the keeper and not being given out was quite frustrating but I actually think it was the perfect thing for us,” he said.
“It’s what we needed; we needed a bit of a pick-me-up and it made something happen.
“It got Ryan involved and Ryan was all of a sudden bowling two yards quicker.
“It made something happen so it was a blessing in disguise.”
The futile-yet-frightening resistance lasted only 14 more deliveries before a slower ball from the back of De Silva’s hand crashed into Cooray’s off stump, cuing jubilation from HSD at effectively ending Parkfield’s finals hopes.
While the game was officially won on Saturday, and De Silva finished with a five-wicket haul, it was Patterson’s damage last week that swung the contest into his side’s favour and set the tone for this weekend’s performance.
Hookey has complete faith in his spearhead, describing him as the ‘heart and soul’ of the team.
“He could leave this club, and I’m confident that he could walk into anyone’s Turf 1 bowling attack,” he said.
“He’s always asking a question of the batters so if your defence isn’t on-song, and you’re not mentally switched-on, he’s going to break through you, and I think that’s a really good characteristic – his best ball is going to get anyone out.
“He has copped a bit of stick sometimes this year, the Lyndale boys got a hold of him a little bit.. but if I’m 50/50 about who I’m going to bowl, I’m picking Ryan every time because I know he’s going to 100 per cent and get the job done more often than not.”
There’s immense respect between the two sides but Hookey is acutely aware of the threat Cannon’s outfit can offer, and was satisfied to have neutralised the danger.
To secure the six points and regroup after what he described as the “most disappointed” he’s felt in his time at the Cobras following a shock loss to Lynbrook in the T20 competition, was a huge vote of confidence for Hookey’s belief in the squad.
The Cobras experienced an uncharacteristic few weeks, beginning with the Lyndale loss in round eight and then slumping to a season-worst batting performance on day one last week.
One of Hookey’s major roles as coach is quelling the outside noise and keeping the focus internal from the group, despite the high expectations that follow HSD every season.
But cricket is a week-to-week grind; look too far ahead and you can easily come unstuck.
With a lens of perspective, a 5-2 start to the year is a great place to be, with plenty of improvement still to come after Christmas.
“The outside always says that HSD should win it; I know the limiting factors of why we haven’t won it, there’s thousands of factors (including) the constraints we work through as a club financially, we do really well to get this field on the park.
“I know the limitations that are there, and the wheels can only fall off if they fall off from within, and it’s not.
“We’re all quite confident in ourselves and I think we’ve got the best bowling attack in the competition, I’ve always said that.
“We’re 5-2 playing away from home and I don’t think anyone is really having an outstanding season.
“If we get 200 on the board, no matter what format, I give us a 60/70 per cent chance of winning.”
