George Worker showed mental fortitude.
CD Stags v Otago Volts T20, Yarrow Stadium
Making mistakes on the park is always a given but it's what you do about it that defines a player.
"Jeez, I just wanted to dig a hole and disappear in it after dropping that catch," George Worker said after letting off the hook Otago Volts batsman Anaru Kitchen from roomie Mitchell Claydon's delivery on Saturday night's televised Georgie Pie Super Smash Twenty20.
However, nine balls later the Devon Hotel Central Districts left-arm spinner made up for it with Kitchen's wicket for 29 runs to finish with a wicket maiden and an unsuccessful vociferous appeal against opener Neil Broom who was 70 not out from 49 balls to set CD a target of 142 to win.
But it didn't end there as the man of the match spearheaded CD to a four-wicket victory over the Volts at Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth, with 5-10 from his four overs to claim CD's best bowling figures in T20 cricket and eclipsing his previous career best of 3-18.
Worker, a left-hand opening batsman whose season has flourished since playing for the Black Caps, then went about scoring 42 runs from 25 balls before Otago captain Nathan McCullum bowled him.
"It was disappointing not to see the game through for the boys but it was great to see the others, especially the young ones step up," he said, alluding to the partnership between Dane Cleaver (37 runs from 30 balls) and captain Kruger van Wyk (13/18) before newbie Joshua Clarkson (26no/15) made the most of it with Marty Kain (11no/7) to see the Heinrich Malan-coached CD home despite some nail-biting moments as it came down to a run a ball.
Malan, after CD's six-wicket loss in the T20 opener at Pukekura Park last Thursday, emphasised the need for Cleaver to add 30-odd runs and it's something Worker felt "will do wonders" for the Manawatu batsman.
It was a short batting debut for Complete Flooring Napier Technical Old Boys Indika Senarathne, who Australia-bound Black Cap seamer Neil Wagner trapped lbw for a golden duck.
First-game hero Tom Bruce also suffered a similar fate when Wagner ran him out after facing his first delivery.
If speed kills seamers on good, bouncy tracks then a lack of patience will do the same to batsmen slow wickets especially in trying to achieve any preconceived notions of targets in the first six overs.
The drop-in wicket on the rugby park, which many horses at Christmas at the Races in Hastings yesterday would have approved of, was slow but Worker relished the assistance. Perhaps what was surprising was McCullum's reluctance to start with Anaru Kitchen and himself, if not Sam Wells, when it was blatantly obvious the Volts batsmen found it hard going against Kain and Worker.
Worker's victims included Michael Bracewell, Brad Wilson, both caught by Kain, and McCullum who chose to be disrespectful as Tom Bruce snaffled the edge at slips for one run, after he had survived a dropped catch at slips two balls earlier.
Sitting on four wickets for as many runs, the Manawatu allrounder rattled Derek de Boorder's furniture for two runs only a delivery after the wicketkeeper survived an appeal for an edge. Worker said the wicket wasn't one that allowed batsmen to score freely but actually demanded they work themselves in. "It was a win under pressure and the younger guys put their hands up so we'll take that momentum into Wednesday night's game [versus Auckland Aces] at the same venue," he said.
CD would be wiser for having played on the drop-in wicket after assessing what worked and didn't on Saturday night.