It was always going to be close. The Manglers side was not as good as they were the previous year. The 2 For 22 side was more consistant, but again it was The Manglers having the final laugh that day in a 82-81 victory that saw them stay unbeaten and sending 2 For 22 to 3 wins and 2 losses on the season and then into a race for second going into the playoffs.
Put into bat 2 For 22 got off to a bad start with Roxburgh and Ward involved in a silly runout before Rox got bowled. They scraped together a partnership of 19. Young and Abernethy batted well with a clutch partnership of 43 to see the score move to 62. With Smith and King entering the crease before a sellout crowd of 25, the base was set.. Clearly Smith and King must have been admiring the eye candy as they were involved in a runout first ball of the partnership. However with King able to feed the strike to Smith the score raced to 80 with 2 overs to go. Sadly however they would only manage 1 off the last 2 overs with -10 coming off the last 4 balls of the innings.
The Manglers began the chase badly with the openeing partnership not impressing anyone. The middle partnership was worse and left the final pair to get 43. With some tight bowling from Young and Abernethy the equation became 27 required off the last 2 overs. Ward stepped up and conceded 15 off his over. However he was to have a 5 given as a 7 in the scorebook which he was not impressed about afterwards. With 12 required off the last over Smith was given the ball. Normally the closer for the side there was quiet expectation this would finally be the day the Manglers winning streak ended. When Ward thre down the stumps of the first ball of the final over all of a sudden the Manglers required 17 off 5 balls and the game appeared won. Sadly though Smith (sporting a Kyle Mills hair cut) was pinged for a wide/no ball?? This was to swung the momentum. Ward missed a chance to ice it with a run out at the bowlers end before Abernethey dived over one that went for 4 and the rest was history.
It was a gutting loss for the side. However it must be said that 2 For 22 did not bring their 'A' game that day and probably deserved to win. Very similar to the way Manchester United were soundly beaten by Arsenal in the FA Cup Final this year.
So the scene is all set for another showdown in 2005. 2 For 22 are under huge pressure from the media and the fans. Smith will not play which is a big loss to the side. On the Manglers side of things they are coming off a bad loss 2 weeks ago. The week off with the bye has been a good chance for them to sit down and talk about the mistakes made looking ahead. Much has been made of Stewarts choke but it must be said the hamstrings are a tough team to beat and deserve favourate status at the TAB. It will be interesting to see what players take to the pitch for both sides in this clutch game. It is also understood that after the dismal display against the Hamstrings the 2 For 22 team met behind closed doors for a team meeting. We understand that video footage was put before the team and questions asked of ego's and motivation to get the job done..we can only await the game this Thursday.