Cricket: Drama in club cricket

By Graham Reddaway

There has probably not been a more dramatic day in one-day cricket at any level than the quarter-finals of the Auckland first grade competition.

There were two major events. The first was when North Shore and Birkenhead tied on the last ball, although Birkenhead have threatened a protest.

The second came at Cornwall Park where East Coast Bays and Suburbs New Lynn had an action-packed contest.

Suburbs should have been down and out in their chase for 191. Their eighth wicket fell at 59 and with only Kirin Mehta and a couple of tailenders left the end was in sight.

Aided by 18 from bowler Mark Bowyer and 19 not out from wicketkeeper Dion Rowntree, Mehta eked out run after run until one ball from the finish his job was completed when the scoreboard ticked over to 191.

But as the players trudged from the field the real drama was just beginning. The scorers, Ian Donnelly (Suburbs) and Anna Hendry (Bays), mulled over their books and even a ball by ball dissection of the day's play could not alter the fact that the Y2K bug had got into their pencils and the match was tied at 190-apiece.

But there was one ball still to be bowled, so out they went again.

Mehta had to face the last delivery from Chris Small. It was smashed back to Small and in a flurry of arms and legs the run out was missed and Suburbs got a most unlikely victory.

Cornwall inflicted a wellconstructed defeat upon Grafton, and Howick Pakuranga made no race of their match against Papatoetoe.