Eastern Cricket Association: North Balwyn juggernaut rolls Canterbury in grand final
Just a few weeks back, North Balwyn wasn’t even sure of a finals berth. But after knocking off the top two teams, the Bulls charged their way to the title.
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North Balwyn capped a stunning month by claiming the ECA Dunstan Shield with a grand final win over Canterbury at the Canterbury Sports Ground on Sunday.
That the Bulls were even in the decider was a remarkable tale in itself.
They needed to beat the second-ranked side, Mont Albert, in the final round to book a finals berth and then had to get over the minor premiers and reigning champions East Doncaster in the semi-final.
But after batting its way into a strong position on the opening day, North Balwyn bowled itself to victory on Sunday with a complete grand final performance.
“We fell in, in the end,” president Neil Dalrymple said. “If we hadn’t won that last match against Mont Albert when we only made 94, we wouldn’t have made finals.
“We always had the ability, we just went through some bad patches.”
But in the grand final pressure cooker, the Bulls went up a notch.
“Things just clicked for us,” Dalrymple said. “And we got a couple of runouts, which helped.
“They were well led. Nitesh (Patel) is such a strong leader.
“The beauty was other guys stepped up as well. (James) Jock O’Connell and Guy Martin put on such a great partnership.”
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After a shaky start, the Bulls did what no other batting line-up has been able to do this summer when it got the better of Canterbury’s newball demolition team of Steve Duckworth and Chris Moore.
The former Fitzroy Doncaster stars have swept all before them this summer and have played a big part in giving Canterbury the chance to win a top grade flag for the first time in 35 years.
But after grinding its way through difficult early overs, North Balwyn had its nose in front by stumps when it posted 7-231 in 78 overs.
“The wicket was probably pretty placid in the end,” Dalrymple said.
After winning the toss, Canterbury sent the Bulls to the crease first and threw the shackles around the scoring.
North Balwyn limped through the first couple of hours to be 2-59 after Elliott Forbes (14) was bowled by Duckworth and Patel (21) holed-out to Duckworth at square leg off Andrew Hansen.
But O’Connell (59 off 159 balls with 4 fours) and Martin (36 off 79 balls with 4 boundaries) steadied the ship with a 77-run third-wicket stand.
Then, a week after his matchwinning semi-final century, Aadil Ali made an unbeaten 59 from just 81 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes as the Bulls set about carding a total that was always going to take some chasing.
Duckworth finished with 2-80 while William Mayhood netted 2-35.
On Sunday, the scales quickly tipped in North Balwyn's favour after the Bulls removed the Canterbury top order cheaply to have it 3-22.
Skipper Andy Mills battled gamely, holding things together with 30 off 158 balls in 163 minutes with 2 boundaries, while Moore (26 off 42 balls) and Duckworth (28 not out off 72) chipped in down the order.
But Canterbury’s tilt at a drought-breaking flag ended at 134 in 74.2 overs.
In an even bowling effort, Kaushick Maheshwaran, Ali and Alex O’Neill finished with two wickets apiece while veteran newball bowler James Binney returned from injury to bowl 11 overs for 0-18.