Third Eleven Premiership - 2021/22

SUNIL'S STUNNING OVER SEALS THE DEAL

The Grand Final loss of 2020/21 still burned deep in our Thirds, and the squad was determined not to let another chance pass.

We had a consistent season to finish second on the ladder, and earned a home semi final. We played at home v Emerald Hill in the last round of the season, and hosted them again in the semi final. Both were comfortable wins.

At right: Spin king Sunil Bhandari receives his Man of the Match medallion from umpire Graham Slater.

We had an unexpected bonus in semi final week, with fourth-placed National beating top team Melbourne City, which gifted Moonee Valley a home Grand Final under Mercantile’s policy change the last couple of seasons to reward higher-finishing teams.
We had beaten National comfortably both times we met, while the points were shared in our two matches with Melbourne City.

We had a battle with qualifying our key players for finals, and it was only a rained-out Sunday and being prepared to gamble with 10 players in another round that got Geoff McKeown over the line.

But come game day that was all behind us, and the task at hand was to win a Premiership.

Captain Rahul “Sunny” Sharma was confident in the 12 which took to the field for the big match, and the team had a consistent core all season.

Our curator Ian “Spider” Beel has prepared a belter of a pitch, and National had no hesitation in choosing to bat when they won the toss.

At left: Captain Sunny Sharma receives the premiership shield and flag from umpires Wilson Chan (far left) and Graham Slater.

But it was 45 overs to go, and anything can happen in a game of cricket.

National got off to a brisk start, with six runs off the first over and 10 off the first two. Sunny Singh came on in the fifth over, and was greeted with a towering six. But he got the breakthrough four balls later, with the game’s first wicket falling LBW.
Bowling partner Vinnie Singh cleaned up the other opener in the next over – a maiden – with a cracker of a ball.

Skipper Sunny Sharma brought himself on in the 14^th over and got a wicket fourth ball, courtesy of a fantastic leap and catch by Sunil Bhandari.

Sunny didn’t look too threatening, but got another in his second over thanks to a solid Dean Jukic catch. Juka came on to bowl in the 17^th over and took a bit of stick. But the big-hitting National bat tried once too often, and fell to a trademark Jim Polonidis outfield catch. Revenge for Deano, and the score 5/66.

National steadied the ship, and the score edged up to 88 without any further loss of wickets in the 25^th of the allocated 45 overs.

Dean Jukic was clubbed for 4 off the fourth ball of his fifth over, then grasped a red-hot caught-and-bowled the next ball to have National 6/88.

At right: Job's done - the victorious Thirds walking off Ormond Park at the end of the match. L-R: Tom Janetzki, Dean Jukic, Bede Gannon, Geoff McKeown, Sunny Sharma, Manthan Nicholas and Jim Polonidis.

Sunil Bhandari had conceded just four runs off his first two overs, and was bowling a superb line and length.

Over 26. National crashed from 6/88 to all out 88 in the blink of an eye. Sunil took wickets with his first two balls – he followed Deano’s example and took a caught-and-bowled, then got the umpire’s nod for an LBW.

At right: Young gun Tom Janetzki receives his premiership medallion - his first flag at any level - from skipper Sunny Sharma, with  umpire Graham Slater. 

A dot ball was followed by the last two wickets – a sharp stumping by Geoff McKeown, and another LBW. All over in five balls.

So adding Dean Jukic’s last two balls, National lost 5/0 off seven balls. What a dramatic collapse!

Sunil had been virtually unplayable. With his 4/4 off 2.5 overs, he had taken a remarkable 8/28 across two finals. And spin partner Dean Jukic can’t be overlooked, with 5/41 in the same campaign.

Excellent bowling and fielding – but the game that mattered was still only half over.

Openers Mark Gauci and Geoff McKeown got off to a brisk start, and knocked a quarter off the target in the first three overs before Geoff was caught.

Skipper Sunny was bowled in the 14^th over with the score on 50 – Moonee Valley was just two wickets down, with 39 runs to get. But we were still nervous – grand finals are never easy.

We were 3/52 when Mark Gauci went for a well-compiled 21 off 35 balls, and 4/57 when Manthan Nicholas failed to get over a ball and was caught close in.

We were nervous. Sukhi Jaiswal had been patient in inching the score along, and had faced 10 balls before getting off the mark. He had 3 runs off 23 balls.

Young gun Tom Janetzki was moved up the order to No. 6, and came in determined to make his mark.

At left: Jim Polonidis (right) gets a hug - and a premiership medallion - from skipper Sunny Sharma.

Still we were batting cautiously, keeping out the good balls – and there were plenty of them. After losing Manthan we scored 4 runs off four overs. But we were inching closer to the target of 89.

The spectators were all holding their breath. Still 28 to go after 24 overs.

Bowler Prasanjeet had bowled six overs for 8 runs – the last three overs being maidens.

Sukhi hit the first ball of his seventh over for 4, and then boundaries off his third and fourth balls. Target reduced to 16.

Tom Janetzki hit a 4 and a single off the first two balls of the next over. Target 11. Tom and Sukhi then quickly knocked over the balance and the premiership was ours – 4/93 in 27 overs.

It was a fitting reward for a season of hard work, and a team with a balance of youth and experience.

Mercantile has already flagged that they are looking to promote our Thirds to B Grade next season. So bring it on.
*****For more photos, click HERE
*****For the Grand Final scorecard, click HERE
 ****And our website front page article the day of the Premiership - click HERE