Vettori’s big final over clinches Black Clash
Daniel Vettori did not flinch, snaffling three wickets in the final over to edge Team Cricket to a tense two-run win over Team Rugby in the third edition of the Black Clash last night.
With Jordie Barrett on the cusp of carrying Team Rugby to an unlikely upset, Vettori stepped up to claim the All Blacks and Hurricanes playmaker for 30 from 11 balls.
Eight runs were required from Vettori’s final over, with the series level 1-1. Yet there was never a sense Vettori was remotely flustered as he removed Andy Ellis and Marc Ellis before killing off rugby’s hopes by claiming Barrett and finishing with a match-winning 3-11 from four overs.
Chasing an imposing 189-5, Will Jordan’s batting exploits could not upstage Peter Fulton, after the former Black Caps opener smoked five successive sixes from one over.
Jordan scored two tries off the bench in his second test for the All Blacks last year and he continued that Midas touch to hit 49 from 29 balls as Rugby attempted to upstage their more fancied counterparts in front of a sold-out Christchurch crowd.
Opening for Cricket alongside Hamish Marshall, who struck a brisk 37 from 20 balls in the 62-run opening partnership, Fulton needed time to get going but picked his moment in the 11th over to thunder five sixes off successive balls at Hagley Oval.
Fulton cheekily targeted Kaylum Boshier, having coached the now Taranaki and Chiefs loose forward in the New Zealand cricket under-19 side and suggesting he could not go easy on his former charge.
Andy Ellis proved the pick of the Rugby bowlers, taking 3-15 from three overs. Israel Dagg also pulled off a superb caught and bowled to remove Marshall and claim 1-27 from four overs.
In response, Jordan and Ofisa Tonu’u compiled 74 for the opening wicket, before Nathan McCullum claimed the former All Blacks halfback, the first of his three scalps, for an unconventional 29 from 28 balls which included a few reverse sweeps.
As Rugby threatened to charge, McCullum’s restrictive 3-20 allowed the heavily-favoured Cricket team to breathe a little easier.
McMillan and Adam Parore turned back the clock to take two in one over and reduce Rugby to 85-3, with Jordan’s departure leaving Boshier and Jock McKenzie to attempt the rescue mission.
Boshier impressed again in this fixture, hitting three sixes from one horrible Jordan Watson over but he, too, fell to a full wide delivery as Rugby slumped to 134-5.
Barrett’s late efforts ensured this fixture went down to the final ball, as it did last year, but Vettori’s smarts proved the difference in an entertaining spectacle.