Super Slam: T20 games finish in darkness

There were scenes akin to the 2007 World Cup Final across Melbourne in a suburban cricket competition on Wednesday night.

Where are they? The Monash Tigers and Casey South Melbourne game finished in the dark.

There were shades of the 2007 World Cup Final in Wednesday night’s Super Slam games.

Fitzroy Doncaster’s game against Northcote at Schramms Reserve finished in darkness, even with the assistance of lighting.

Lions premiership player Steve Duckworth said on social media: “That’s farcical scenes happening right there. Not a great look for an emerging competition to showcase the best talents in T20 in Victoria.”

A great night for T20 in early November!! @VicSuperSlam @vicpremcricket pic.twitter.com/9GCzMRfVGZ

— Peter Dickson (@Petedicko105) November 6, 2019

Club great Peter Dickson tweeted a video highlighting that it was next to impossible to see the middle of the ground from the sidelines in near single-digit temperatures.

The Monash Tigers and Casey South Melbourne fixture also ended in the dark.

Four of the eight games were decided via the Duckworth Lewis method.

Fitzroy Doncaster captain Ejaaz Alavi said conditions affected his side’s ability to chase Northcote’s 6-148.

The Lions reached 3-130 from 19.4 overs, calling the game off when they couldn’t win.

“It was pretty dark towards the end of the innings,” Alavi said.

“It made it a bit difficult to chase down the runs.

“We thought we were in a decent position in the game but things didn’t quite go our way and we had to bat in the dark.”

The 2007 World Cup finished in darkness.

Alavi said “we let them score a few too many runs” and the last five overs were played “in pretty much darkness”.

“It got a bit dark in the end and unfortunately we couldn’t hit the runs we needed,” he said.

“We would have liked to have the full 20 overs in full light to give us a chance to chase a score, especially having so many wickets still in hand.”

The usual big-hitting Trent Lawford could manage just 12 runs from 15 deliveries.

“Lawf was saying if the ball was at his head, he probably wouldn’t still be here,” Alavi said.

“He was just closing his eyes and swinging.

“He just kept playing and missing. It was pretty dark.

“It probably was a bit dangerous. It wasn’t ideal conditions.”