Diggers Rest Bulla left it to the last moment, not for the first time this season, to escape with a first innings lead in Gisborne Cricket’s B-grade grand final against East Sunbury.
After a dismal batting display at Diggers Rest Oval which left Burras captain-coach Rhys Berry “not a very happy skipper” it was again left to the Burras bowlers to try to save the day.
Picture gallery: Diggers Rest Bulla v East Sunbury grand final
The Burras made just 118, with Lincoln Grant top-scoring with 20.
Jessy Carroll was the best of the bowlers for the Thunder with 5-71.
“We struggled with the bat after being 2-40,” Berry said.
“We should have made the most of the start, but we played ordinary shots so I wasn’t
happy.”
The Burras’ time in the field didn’t start that well either.
“They were 1-56 and there were a few blokes down in the dumps,” he said. “Then they were 4-70 but still in control and it didn’t look good for us.”
Then things started to turn the Burras’ way.
“Darren Quarrell was fantastic and wickets started to fall,” Berry said.
“He [Quarrell] got 5-38 off 17 overs and Lindon Dowsett again chipped in at the right time.
“He’s our best batsman and he got a duck and let me down on day one, but he bounced back with 4-14.
“It got really exciting when they were nine wickets down and they needed five runs to pass our total.
“Their coach, Mark Hourigan, was still in and I thought he would try to get it over and done with.
“Instead there were three maidens and then Hourigan had a mishit which my brother [Warren] caught.”
East Sunbury was all out for 115.
Berry said it was hard to keep the emotions in check knowing the job wasn’t over.
“It was a rollercoaster of emotions and I think I’ve aged five years in the last two days,” he said.
“We still have a job to do and our batsmen were good enough to keep their minds on the job.
“We got to 0-50 in our second innings, which is our best batting start for the year.”
The Burras will resume on day three at 2-71 and if they don’t lose wickets, Berry thinks the match may not last the day.
“If we can stay two wickets down at drinks, then they may think about calling the game off.
“If we had been no wickets down at stumps, the game may not have gone into day three.”
