Premier Cricket: Carlton defeats gallant Casey South Melbourne in gripping grand final
Tom Smyth took the John Scholes Medal as Carlton won its second flag in four years, getting past a spirited Casey South Melbourne at the Albert Ground.
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The brilliant Blues came through.
They invariably do.
Carlton won its second premiership in four years and claimed a second title for the 2021-22 season when it got past a gallant Casey South Melbourne in the Victorian Premier Cricket grand final at the Albert Ground on Saturday.
The Blues were set 203 – a revised target after rain briefly stopped played during a Swans’ innings that realised 9-200 – and they got there six wickets down and with 13 balls to spare.
In doing so they ended the Swans’ rousing run of nine consecutive wins.
And they denied the red and the white their first premiership since 1967-68.
It was a tense run chase for the Blues.
Swans paceman Jackson Fry rocked Carlton with a burst of three wickets, leaving it 4-67.
Fry had removed Blues opener Mack Harvey for five, chopping on to his stumps, but Carlton seized the running with a blast of boundaries from captain Evan Gulbis and Brayden Stepien.
It was thrilling batting, Gulbis cover driving Fry for four and pulling quickie Nathan Lambden for another boundary and Stepien cutting and pulling with panache.
They rattled the score along to 60, threatening to turn the chase into an amble. Fry spectacularly intervened, having Gulbis (28) caught behind as he looked to drive. Six runs later he struck two mighty blows for his team, having Harry Smyth well caught by wicketkeeper Devin Pollock and Nick Ross snapped up by Ruwantha Kellepotha in the slips.
Both made ducks – ducks to go into a stir Fry, one wag suggested – and the Blues were wobbling.
Stepien continued to bat with authority, but on 49 he received a life when he was put down by Swans captain Michael Wallace, a straightforward chance at mid-on. He reached his half-century, but on 51 holed out to Luke Shelton on the mid-wicket boundary off left-arm spinner Lachie Sperling. Wallace must have been the most relieved man in Melbourne.
Stepien’s departure made the score 5-110. The many Casey South Melbourne supporters at the ground could sense victory. They wanted one more wicket from the Swans to hammer home the advantage.
They never got it: a 75-run partnership between Tom Smyth and Connor Rutland, the highest and best of the grand final, turned the match Carlton’s way.
Smyth nudged the ball around. Rutland occasionally nailed it, as when he hit Sperling over the fence.
They built the score steadily, going from 5-131 off 33 overs to 5-177 off 43. After the early dash from Gulbis and Stepien, the run-rate was no great concern for Carlton.
Left-hander Smyth brought up his 50 – off 97 balls – with a single, another steady, sensible innings from the unassuming 29-year-old.
Rutland was on target for a half-century too, but on 47 he hit a long-hop from leggie Kellepotha straight to Sperling on the fence at deep square.
The Blues were 6-185. Was there an opening for Casey South Melbourne? No. Xavier Crone quickly lifted Carlton to the premiership, his 18 not out coming off nine balls and including 2 fours and a six.
His second boundary brought the winning runs. In the middle of the pitch he embraced Smyth, who was 52 not out. Earlier he had taken 1-44 off nine overs of off-spin; it was enough for him to receive the John Scholes Medal as player of the match, an award named after the mighty “Barrel’’, one of Carlton’s most revered players.
The Blues had won the toss and asked the Swans to bat under grey skies that had settled over one of Victorian cricket’s most picturesque grounds.
CSM opener Luke Manders started with a thumping pull shot off Cameron Stevenson and went on to make 63 off 103 balls, with six boundaries. It took his season aggregate to 671 runs (817 when Super Slam matches are added). He is a fine player.
Manders’ opening partnership with Ashley Chandrasinghe (25 off 58) was worth 56, but the Swans never really got on top of the excellent Carlton attack and they looked at least 30 runs shy of where they needed to be.
Some meaty blows from Shelton (32 not out off 35 balls) and Kellepotha (22 off 18) near the end of the innings got them to 200 off 49 overs, time having been lost when the covers came on at 12.45pm.
Of the Carlton bowlers, Gulbis (3-35 off 10) and spinner Eddy O’Sullivan (3-32 off 10) had the most success.
Could the Swans make 9-203 stand up? With 4-28 off 10 overs, Fry was outstanding as he rocked the Blues. But once more the depth and quality of their batting were to the fore and they went on to more honour and glory.
Earlier in the season, at the same ground, they clinched the Victorian Super Slam premiership, defeating St Kilda.
“What you have done all year for myself and for each other has been phenomenal,’’ Gulbis said to his players at the presentation.
“I couldn’t love you boys any more.’’ He said Tom Smyth had now won Carlton two finals “off your own bat’’.
Under first-year coach Will Carr the Swans had climbed from 15th last season all the way to the grand final, a rise Gulbis described as “absolutely unbelievable’’.
He said the Swans had pushed Carlton “all the way’’ and “are going places’’.
John Scholes Medal recipient Smyth said it was an “unreal feeling’’ to win another premiership.
Referring to his partnership with Rutland, he said: “We’d scored pretty quickly at the top. The runs weren’t the issue. It was the wickets. We knew if we batted the time we’d be able to get the runs. We had to consolidate and see it through to the end.’’
He said Rutland was a talented player and a clean-striking batsman, and he hit boundaries when the partnership needed them.
There was a stir after the presentation when a window in the Swans’ changerooms was broken, glass flying on to the steps of the pavilion.
A sheepish Fry took responsibility, saying he kicked his boot off as he entered the room and it sailed through the window.
“Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done,’’ he said. “I feel pretty bad.’’
Fry said he and the Swans had given it everything in the grand final and could be proud of their season.
“Sometimes you have those days. I’ve never bowled like that before,’’ he said.
“You have a bit of luck. The edges go to hand. After I got the fourth it felt like we might win the game. Wasn’t to be. Credit to Carlton. They batted well. They’re a great side.’’
The Blues waited for their oldest premiership player, 89-year-old Bernie Smith, to enter the rooms before launching into their club song.
Carlton premiership team: Evan Gulbis (c), Mackenzie Harvey, Brayden Stepien, Harry Smyth, Nick Ross, Tom Smyth, Connor Rutland, Xavier Crone, Jai Lemire, Cameron Stevenson, Eddy O’Sullivan
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