BINGLES SEE THE PLUSS SIDE IN NAILBITING WIN

THE PENMAN
They say the hottest part of the day is between 1pm & 3pm but at Blackman Upper, Lane Cove it was more like 6pm to 7pm on Saturday. After a lacklustre effort in the field & a sporadic performance with the bat, Killara left it to numbers eight & nine to seal a two wicket victory against the Kirribilli Crusaders with just two balls remaining in the days play. Despatched to the field on a humid January Saturday, the Bingles began 2013 with two of their 2012 hallmarks a superb opening spell of bowling & numerous dropped catches. Jared Barry, perhaps having gazed into a crystal ball prior to play, claimed the first wicket all on his own snaffling a catch off his own bowling. Barry must have missed Halloween last year as he delighted in scaring the batsmen with his two favourite lengths searing yorkers & horrifying bouncers. Charlie Turners impeccable line & length was in stark contrast but proving just as effective in holding the batsmen down. At 1-44 after 12, the Crusaders were battling on a batting paradise but that would change with the introduction of Killaras change bowlers. An astonishing eight over period leading up to drinks cost the Bingles 72 runs as Jack Roach, The Penman & Jack Mansfield copped the full brunt of an assault by Kirribillis first drop. Mansfield eventually dismissed the heavy hitter on 50 as Barry skated around from mid-on to mid-wicket to claim a top edge. But what followed after the interval was a combination of poor fielding & bad luck as The Penman had a blatant LBW turned down to go with an outswinger that hit the off stump but failed to dislodge the bails. While wickets fell regularly, Killara werent able to maintain a discipline in line & length. A world wind sixth wicket stand of 48 was the difference between Kirribilli being bundled out & eventually posting a competitive total. It took the return of Killaras opening bowlers to keep the batters in some form of check; Barry & Turner grabbing two poles each, while Samit Kalra & Mansfield also managed double strikes. Kirribillis lusty late order hitting drove their total up to Richies favourite score of 222; a figure that could have been worse had Barry & Turner not returned 16 overs, 5-46 between them. In contrast Killaras changeup men found the going tough, conceding 167 from their combined 24 overs, though all the leather flingers bowled without luck. Not content with kicking off the bowling, Turner & Barry doubled as opening batsmen; striding out to flay the very object theyd spent the early part of the day delivering so perfectly. Barry looked just as menacing with the bat, smashing his first ball back over midon for four. While Turner supported, Barry belted the score up to 49 after eight, & it looked as though the fielding issues would be papered over by some rapid batting. The introduction of Kirribillis aptly nicknamed Chucker shook the Bingles badly though; he nicked out Turner & a dangerous looking Julian Nicholls before removing Ed Lembke-Hogan as well. Barry & Sam McKenzie stabilized but the big mans appetite was insatiable & he holed out for 45 in the 18th over.

McKenzie poked & prodded along to 31, his trademark fluency seemingly absent yet he appeared to be digging in before he lost his off peg to a slanting inswinger. Despite the indifferent batting, the Bingles were close enough if good enough at 5-156, 67 required from 60 deliveries. But The Penman was not good enough & he wasted a promising start with an atrocious rush of blood that brought Nicholas Pluss to the crease. Kalra was headed back to the boundary two overs later & with 59 runs needed for victory from the final eight overs Killara appeared headed for a sour start to the new year. However with the game there for the taking Kirribillis bowling became shoddier than Mansfields new haircut luckily his stroke making, & that of Pluss, was much better looking. Young Pluss hitting was clean, calm & controlled & while his team mates chewed finger nails & sausages he dismantled Kirribillis crusade towards the points. The Bingles still needed one big over from the final three to give themselves a realistic chance; it came in the form of the 38th & as 11 runs leaked so did the Crusaders chances of victory. Mansfield proved he was a man for the moment as well, smoking a sublime cover drive to the boundary in the penultimate over of the innings to leave Killara with just eight runs to get from the final six balls. Pluss embraced the pressure of the final over with two brave & bold strokes over midwicket; the first a boundary, the second a hard run two that brought his team mates to their feet & the victory to fruition. Good teams win comfortably when they play at their best but more importantly know how to win even when theyre a little off their game. Killara have improvement in them but showed a healthy cocktail of guts, guile & belief to pull off a win despite being below their best. The win did come at an unfortunate cost however, with opening bat & off spin bowler James True injuring his knee early in proceedings. He will see a specialist on Thursday to determine the seriousness of the damage.