Cargo’s heroics do job for Melville

A last-ball six in the fading light from Hayden Cargo capped off a highly dramatic final day of round robin play in Hamilton club cricket, which saw Melville advance to the Howden Cup final.

Melville’s one-wicket win over Fraser-Tech in their two-day clash which concluded on Saturday saw them leap into second place to qualify for the three-day decider at Seddon Park from next Saturday, where they will take on Hamilton Boys’ High School - the runaway top qualifiers of the Eddy Marr Bowl one and two-day competition.

Going into the last weekend, four teams were battling for the second berth in the final - Melville, Tech, defending champions Old Boys and Marist-Suburbs.

Morning drizzle delayed starts in all matches, while the HBHS versus Star University game at Jansen Park didn’t even get going, with the teams - assured top spot and the wooden spoon respectively - seeing no reason to muck around.

At Galloway Park the MelvilleTech match got underway around 12.15pm, while the Old BoysMarist-Suburbs contest took till 1pm to start.

The latter game had seen Marist-Suburbs rack up 305 on day one, with Old Boys resuming on 49-2. They made their way through to 149-6 before the rain returned, and rather than wait around for a possible resumption, it was decided to call the match then, with the teams taking their three points apiece for a draw, along with their batting and bowling bonus points.

Admittedly time was against them but why Marist-Suburbs didn’t try and push on for an unlikely outright win was perplexing, as they were instead immediately out of the hunt, while for Old Boys the early conclusion meant they were left cheering for a draw in the Melville-Tech contest, or a Tech outright win - though only

Old Boys’ miscalculations at the time meant they didn’t know the latter scenario would be to their benefit.

So everyone on hand was led to believe Tech could make the decider with an outright victory.

All the scenarios were seemingly by the by, however, with rain falling steadily during the afternoon and a resumption in play unlikely.

However, with conditions brightening, Melville and Tech made their way back onto the field, as Old Boys players watched on.

Day one had seen Melville claim first innings points, rolling Tech for 128, then getting to 197-5. Keir Bettley and Callum Hill powered on, with Hill making 57 off 97 balls in a 130-run stand for the sixth wicket, before Bettley raised his ton and finished unbeaten on 107 off 138 (14 fours), with Melville declaring at 254-6 and a healthy lead of 126.

Because Tech didn’t attain their full allotment of bowling bonus points, it actually meant even with an outright win they weren’t going to overtake Old Boys - not that anyone was believing that at the time, with the numbers causing mass confusion.

Tech went about hitting their way to some sort of score, though with leg-spinner Cargo picking up four wickets, they returned after the rain break and slipped to 200-8.

However, a burst of hitting from Gagandeep Singh (71no off 67) and PJ Monga (42 off 30) saw them make it to 281-9 declared in 56 overs - as they set Melville 156 in a minimum of 17 overs.

In the end Tech actually sent down 22 overs, with captain Prakash Gosai (5-81 off 11) opting to use just himself and fellow spinner Ryan Smith (3-75 off 11).

Despite the third over going for 18, none of the rest of the first 12 overs went for more than seven, with Melville losing four wickets. Bettley (40 off 32) threatened again, but was the fifth man out, before Melville then slumped to lose four wickets in 16 balls and sit at 114-9 off 18.4 overs.

From there, with No 11 Michael Allen (3no off four) hanging in, it all came down to No 8 Cargo, with the long-levered left-hander needing to pull off something special.

With a huge 40 required off three overs, Smith was taken for 14, then Gosai for eight, leaving 18 needed off the last - to be bowled by Smith in the enshrouding gloom.

While Cargo managed a four down the ground off the first ball, Smith then fired in two dots to make the equation 14 off three. But the cool-headed Cargo then smashed a six and four down the ground, leaving four required off the last delivery.

A boundary would see Melville into the final, while anything less would see Old Boys through (though everyone was believing a wicket would see Tech advance).

As it was, all scenarios were thundered to one side by the swashbuckling blade of Cargo, with Smith just missing the hole and the lanky leftie freeing the arms to plunder a six down the ground to spark wild scenes of celebration.