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Seven needed off the last over, nine wickets down, and no-one could bear to watch. Fraser Kentish drives through the ring fielders, and the batsmen run two.  Dot. Then a head-high full toss – no ball. A single, a dot. Three off three.  Then Matthew Restall, advancing down the pitch, sends the ball high over midwicket. A roar as the tension releases, the batsmen run two. One ball left, scores tied and nine wickets down. 

The Grange bowler delivers, Matthew edges the ball down leg side, the keeper fumbles.  Momentarily stunned, the striker looks up to see Fraser charging down the wicket towards him. He runs, trying to outsprint the ball being hurled by the wicketkeeper to the non striker’s end, and lunges towards the crease as the bails are removed.  The umpire, crouching, still.  Then he stands, arms firmly by his side. A shake of the head. Not out!  The relief, as boys ran on to the pitch to greet their conquering comrades, matched only by the relief of parents, many of whom had already prepared their evening pep talks about other opportunities, other days.

It was all much calmer earlier when skipper Rua Mc won the toss and invited Grange to bat.  Setting off with positive intent, Grange found themselves reeling at 32-5 in the 12th.  Matthew dV made the breakthrough in the fifth over, with Rua taking a good catch in the covers, and Jamie (1-12) took the second, clean bowling ex-Carlton player Robbie Duff. A further wicket to MdV (2-8) and two for Ewan H (2-13) all fell to catches, Ru Mac showing a captain’s knack of putting himself in the right place at the right time and Euan K calmly bagging one at mid-off. 

But then the fightback started.  A strong 6th wicket stand added 24 runs in under 5 overs until dangerman Khurawa hit Ru Shand high to mid-on and Fraser took a solid catch.  Two wickets in an over for Ruari S stalled the Grange advance at 55-7 in the 17th over, but a final fightback proved crucial to the game.  Some aggressive batting and running from the Grange lower order made for a slightly frenzied end to the innings, and with one run out successful and at least three narrowly missed, a valuable 16 runs were put on over the last 3 overs. with Grange finishing on 72-8.

On a normal day, a target of 73 runs would have been well within Carlton’s range. But this was a final, and there was plenty of drama to come.  A positive opening stand of 17 from Gav and Rua Mc over the first 3 overs gave a great start and players and spectators could relax.  But then Gav was clean bowled and three balls later a running mix up resulted in two batsmen at the strikers end and Ewan H departed without scoring - 17-0 became 19-2.

The batsmen dug in and took the score to 36 before Rua Mc was bowled for 16 and at the half-way point Carlton needed 37 runs to win. 

But then a clatter of four wickets, all clean bowled, with just six added to the score, and it was Grange’s turn to take the ascendancy.  A gutsy 8th wicket partnership between Shaun and Euan K took Carlton within 8 runs of the winning line, Shaun playing with characteristic fearlessness. But then Shaun was out caught, and Carlton were down to the last wicket, with ten balls to go. The day’s entertainment had turned into a horror movie.  And then the dramatic last over, advantage swinging one way and another, the game in microcosm, and Carlton squeaked home.

So, what to make of it all?  Firstly a thought for Grange.  Rallying time and again, with a particularly strong bowling performance, on another day the cup would have been theirs. And for Carlton.  The wickets were shared, the runs were shared, the catches were shared.  A true team performance.  

Although it felt like a roller-coaster at the time, Carlton were actually ahead on runs and wickets until the 18th over. After an excellent performance in the field, a few runs leaked at the end of the Grange innings, and two rocky patches in middle order, made the game closer that it could have been. But coming back from these challenges showed real guts and incredible team unity.  You never gave up.  You believed you could win. Well done lads.