THE WDEA Works Saints claimed the title of McDonald’s T20 Champions for season 2021-22 in the most remarkable circumstances on Friday night, with the Grand Final needing a super over to eventually separate the two teams.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Pizza Kitchen Tigers set a challenging, but not insurmountable, score of 116 from their 20 overs. The Tigers appeared to be in trouble early, losing both gun opening batsmen Glenn Violi (11) and Guri Singh (4) within the first five overs, to have them reeling at 2 for 20.
The Saints bowling attack gave very little away, bowling a tight line-and-length that was proving hard to score from, with Dom Violi tying his end up through the middle overs with figures of 1 for 14 from four, including the wicket of Mitch Uhlhorn for 13.
The Pizza Kitchen Tigers middle order of Darren Rushton (24), Jason Mangiameli (17) and Cooper Fox (21) kept the score board ticking over, before a flurry of late wickets saw them end their innings at 116.
Riley Daniels and Bailey Codling got the Saints innings off to the perfect start, picking the gaps and finding the occasional boundary, before Daniels (15) edged one through to Tigers keeper Daniel Mangiameli with the score on 41.
Jake Foster (10) and Austin McKerrow (1) came and went quickly, with the Saints losing their third wicket with still 50 runs needed for victory. Jack Shannahan and Codling then set about guiding the Saints home – and were well on the way to doing so until Shannahan spooned one to Jim Degrigorio at square leg off the bowling of Robert Rush, with the score at 101.
The Saints were still well in control, with only 15 runs needed with three overs remaining. That was until Singh snuck one past the defence of the impressive Bailey Codling, bringing his match changing knock to an end at 56, with the Saints still requiring eleven runs for victory.
Rush held his nerve in the penultimate over, allowing the Saints to score just five singles, leaving the job of bowling out the innings to Tigers spearhead Singh. After a dot off the first ball of the over, it looked as though the Saints were about to lose their nerve when Corey Daniels skied one down the throat off long off – only to see the catch go to ground and the Saints scamper through for two runs.
The Tigers weren’t done yet though, with just two runs needed off the last two balls, Matt Barnes skewed one off the edge, where Rush took an incredible diving catch over his head to remove Barnes and take the game right down to the wire.
Daniels could only manage a single off the final ball, leaving the match tied at 116 runs apiece – and seeing the super over come into effect for the first time in McDonald’s T20 competition history.
It didn’t take long for the Saints to take control of the tie-breaker, with man-of-the-match Bailey Codling planting Singh back over his head for six on the first ball. The Saints would go on to score 12 runs off their six balls, with Codling again starring with 10 of those himself.
In reply, the Tigers’ chase couldn’t have started any worse, with Singh snicking the first ball of their super over through to Codling off the bowling of Nathaniel Holmes-Brown, to have the Tigers in trouble right from the start. From there, they could only manage to score six runs from their over, leaving the Saints to celebrate the most remarkable of wins.
WDEA Works Saints co-captain Austin McKerrow spoke with The Guardian in the aftermath of the electrifying finish – and was barely able to hide his excitement at what his team had just achieved.
“It’s all a bit overwhelming at the moment to be honest – it was just a really exciting win,” McKerrow said.
“When we got that first wicket in the super over, I felt a little more confident – but I honestly can’t praise ‘Coddo’ (Codling) enough for what he did tonight.
“He’s always had the technique, but he’s just found some confidence lately and when he hit that first ball of the super over for six, that was just unbelievable.
“From that moment on, we knew they were going to have to score a boundary to win it and with Holmes-Brown and the way he bowls, we thought we’d be able to protect the boundaries and their scoring zones and that’s how it played out.”
With scores of 56 and 10 in the super over, Codling was an obvious winner of man-of-the-match honours, with the opening batsman just happy to have contributed to his team’s win in the post-match wash-up.
“I’m over the moon – it’s probably the best I’ve batted in a long time,” Codling said.
“I was rapt to get the boys over the line – it was very tough that it had to go to a super over, but that’s T20 cricket.”
“Having a year off last season has made me a lot hungrier for it – and now I’m just really excited to have a crack and see where the season takes us.”
