Fahey's super show seals cup win
Bears secure Cave Cup in thrilling competition finish
Horowhenua-Kapiti Bears cricket team created history in winning the Cave Cup for the first time in a thriller. The scores were tied at the end of 50 overs in their Cave Cup final against Taranaki, forcing a suddendeath super over.
Enter all-rounder and big hitter Kelsey Fahey, who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.
Fahey put on a display of power hitting, facing all six balls of the super over. Batting partner Bailey Te Tomo could only watch on from the other end.
The first ball to Fahey from Taranaki bowler Mattie Thomas was a dot. With the next ball he found the boundary, then they ran two, the next ball was dispatched for another boundary, before Fahey hit a glorious six that cleared the Fitzherbert Park trees. The pair scampered through for two runs off the final ball to post a score of 18.
All eyes were then on Prabodha Arthavidu Ellawala Liyanage, who took on the burden of bowling the super over for the Bears.
Taranaki also started with a dot ball, but batsman Dean Robinson followed up with a mighty six. He and partner Mattie Thomas crossed for a single, then Thomas also cleared the rope.
With two balls remaining and the match in the balance, it took a brilliant diving catch in the deep from Te Tomo to swing the game back in the Bears’ favour and dismiss Thomas.
Taranaki needed six from the last ball to win, but could only manage a couple, with Lockie Spring fielding urgently and getting the ball safely back to the gloves.
Bears manager Gary O’Brien said despite the closeness of the final it was just reward for three consistent performances by the Bears over the three-day tournament, firstly with an honourable loss to eventual Chapple Cup winners Hawke’s Bay, followed by a good win over Marlborough to make the Cave Cup final.
Taranaki won the toss and had no hesitation about batting first in the final, reaching 269 in the 50th over, their best batsmen being Josh Borrell (43), Shay Smith (73) and Jordan Gard (33).
Bears bowlers Andre Halbert (4-65), Keegan Maclauchlan (2-22), Charlie Fergusson (2-34) fared best, while Tristan Cleote and Zack Benton snared one apiece.
Needing to score at almost a run a ball, the Bears began positively, with opener Te Tomo reaching 31 off as many balls. However, wickets fell at regular intervals and Jayden Rose Miles, Andre Halbert and Lockie Spring were all gone for less than 20.
Arthavidu’s 72 off 88 balls gave the innings crucial stability, but the Bears needed their tailend to wag.
With the run rate climbing to close to 10 an over, Tristan Cleole arrived at the crease. His 33 from 31, followed by Keegen MacLauchlan’s 20 from 10 and Carter Andrews with 12 from 8, gave the Bears sniff of the honey.
When Andrews was bowled in the 50th over, Cleote was joined at the crease by number 11 batsman Zack Benton and they managed to level the scores with one ball remaining.
As Benton took off from the nonstriker’s end, Cleote caught a thick outside edge and was caught behind. Both teams headed to the shed to contemplate who would take the crease and who would bowl in the sudden-death format.
It proved a thrilling end to the first super over in Chapples Cup and Cave Cup history, to the delight of the Bears players, coaches and supporters.
It was a deserved victory for the Bears as they gave overall Chapple Cup winners Hawke’s Bay their toughest match of the weekend (Feb 17/18) in scoring a respectable 264, while backing it up with another solid performance against Marlborough, reaching 270 to win by 43 runs.
Fahey had a fine tournament with the bat with scores of 68 against Hawke’s Bay, 51 off 33 against Marlborough, and was ultimately the match-winner against Taranaki.
It is the sort of form that would present a decent case for higher honours with CD A coaches watching, while the performances of the teenage pair of Ferguson and Cleote bode well for the HK Bears’ future.