Ram’s 100 made for naught in tough loss
SPARE a thought for Coomera Hope Island opener Kushaal Ram whose maiden century of the Kookaburra Cup season still resulted in a gut-wrenching loss to competition pacesetters Surfers Paradise.
Surfers brought up the winning runs with two balls to spare in a heart-stopping first grade shootout to send the Kookaburra Cup into the Christmas break on a high note.
Ram (103 off 117) and first drop James Martin (89 off 118) produced two of the top three individual batting innings of the weekend, combining for a 167-run second-wicket partnership in Coomera’s 3/234 opening salvo at David Johnston Oval on Saturday.
It was also the fourth-best partnership across all senior grades this season, usurping the previous Kookaburra Cup benchmark set by Sam and Harry Lickiss’s 146-run fourth-wicket stand for Helensvale against Queens in Round 3.
Coomera’s largest innings total of the campaign looked enough to derail the runaway Surfers Paradise train, when openers Nick Williams (11 off 12) and Sam Willis (25 off 39) were sent from the crease by Daniel Folley.
Folley would finish with four wickets on the afternoon, also bagging the prized scalps of Michael Phillipson and Claye Beams – but not before the duo put on a show with the bat.
Phillipson (62 off 75) and Beams (45 off 57) put on 106 runs in 115 deliveries to lift Surfers out of the hole, before Aaron Densley (42 off 35) produced easily his most important knock of the season to get the competition leaders in position to win at the death.
Needing five for victory off the final over, the pairing of Michael Waldren and Jonathon Baldock came through with the goods to send Surfers into Christmas four points clear on top of the table.
The Bulletin’s Coast Cricket Catch-Up double-page spread will return in the New Year.