All rounder Joe Lowe and skipper Danny Hatton were the heroes for St Mary's Cricket Club when a 35-year A-grade premiership drought was broken in the Busselton-Margaret River Cricket Association on Saturday.
In another remarkable finals game, in what has been a great finals series, Saints mounted an incredible comeback to beat YOBS by seven wickets to win the premiership prize, the Barnard Cup, at Barnard Park.
After winning the toss and batting first on an excellent wicket, YOBS appeared to have batted themselves into a winning position when reliable openers Harvey Golding (47) and Nayton Colombera (32) put on 82 runs for the first wicket of the game at nearly four runs an over. An excellent catch by Lowe at mid-off, to dismiss Colombera off Pete Morris, started a comeback for Saints which was the stuff of legends.
When Hatton brought himself on to bowl from the ocean end for the first over after drinks, and switched his leg spinning import Lowe to bowl from the Marine Terrace end, wickets tumbled. Between them, Hatton and Lowe grabbed six wickets in seven overs as YOBS lost an astonishing 7 for 14 to be suddenly sitting on a dismal 7-96.
Bold hitting by Haig Colombera (38 with two sixes) then got the YOBS total up to a defendable 145 all out in 48 overs. Lowe (4-18) and Hatton (3-22) both finished with outstanding figures from their 10-over spells.
Saints' quest for their long-sought premiership hung in the balance for much of their turn at the crease.
YOBS opening bowler Matty Braid claimed the wickets of both openers, Marc Ford (caught at mid-wicket) and Nick Barr (caught and bowled), as Saints were precariously placed at 2-35.
The match-turning partnership then took root, with Hatton (54 not out) grinding out a determined captain's knock and Lowe (22) helping him add a precious 50 runs for the third wicket. After Lowe was adjudged lbw, new batsman Ben Lloyd (21 not out) showed the same application as his skipper.
For a while it seemed that the remaining overs might be a problem, until a couple of boundaries finally loosened the reins. Lloyd, on his 35th birthday, had the honour of hitting the winning runs for St Marys in the 46th over.
It was a fitting result, considering that the ex-Saints skipper was only a few days old when his side won their previous flag on March 31, 1984.
Hatton was named man of the match for his double of 3-22 and an unbeaten 54 runs.
B-GRADE
Vasse Cricket Club are in celebration mode this week after scoring an equally historic victory in the B-grade cricket grand final over Dunsborough at Barnard Park. After initially electing not to enter a team in the B-grade competition this year, Vasse changed their minds less than two weeks before the start of the season. The rest, as they say, is history.
Vasse went on to win the T20 grand final against Dunsborough in February, and then duplicated the result in Saturday's B-grade 45-over premiership decider for the Barnard Shield.
Batting first, Vasse tallied 9-187 from their full 45 overs with Miles Darragh (39), club stalwart Matt Kammann (27) and Scott Young (27) leading the way with the bat. Dunsborough skipper Ian Purcell and Ryan Martin both claimed three wickets, while Kevin Smith bowled an economical 5 overs to concede just 8 runs.
In the chase, Dunsborough lost key batsman Bruce Siney in the opening overs, and struggled to regain momentum throughout the remainder of their innings. Alex Coultas (41) and Purcell (35) gave their side hope, but Vasse allrounder Sam Shepherd's spell of 1-11 from nine overs, and John Albury's two late wickets, proved decisive.
Dunsborough ultimately fell 25 runs short to be 9-162 when the overs ran out.
Albury was named man of the match for his contribution with bat and ball.
