by Samuel Laffy
Garfield-Tynong (2/10) vs Western Park (116)
Two late scalps saw Western Park charge back into contention in the division two grand final against Garfield-Tynong after a disappointing batting effort at one stage saw them staring down the barrel of a potentially emphatic loss.
With just 116 on the board to defend, James Allen was handed the ball in a last-ditch effort to invigorate the Warriors in the dying stages of the day, and the idiosyncratic off-spinner duly delivered.
Having been hit to the fence the previous ball, Allen didn't shy away from flighting the ball towards Sean Somers, and the Titans' opener couldn't resist trying to repeat the dose, only to see the ball drift past his bat and onto the stumps.
Luke Wilson departed the very next ball – chipping a drive to Dale Fawcett at mid-on – and Garfield-Tynong were reduced to 2/10 at the close of play.
Earlier in the day, it was once again Krishan Rangajith who merrily snared another haul of wickets to put the Titans in a position of strength, with his full repertoire of tricks on display. Going into the game many predicted that he would be handed the ball at the start of the day's play and that it wouldn't leave his hands until the end of the innings (at least from one end). As it was his marathon 30.5 over spell saw that come to fruition.
Dale Fawcett is one of the few experienced ball-strikers who has the game to disrupt Rangajith, and he struck three huge sixes off the Titan's spinner early in the piece.
'Daisy's' step-hitting reputation is well-earned, and his blows over the fence showcased predilection for languid leg-side lofts.
However, after racing to 35, the veteran bat was caught just short of his crease attempting to take advantage of a misfield from Jake Van Den Berghe, and his dismissal triggered a flurry of wickets, with 1/40 quickly becoming 4/41.
Unperturbed, Jack Barnes' defensive prowess came to the fore and his 166-ball salvo (which returned 35 invaluable runs) helped provide the impetus for Western Park to push their score past three figures and onto a somewhat defendable total.
Alex Gavin (17 from 47) chimed in with a handy knock and Allen and Matt Jones chipped in with 11 each, but Rangajith's ability to confound had the tail in all sorts.
He wasted little time in securing figures of 5/52, and in the 61st over the Warriors were dismissed for 116.