I know I keep harping on about this, but I’m going to say it once again. What is with this idea about winning the toss and inserting the opposition to bat? It continues to look like a preposterous idea, and it proved extremely costly for the Victorian side in yesterday’s elimination final, as South Australia mega-thrashed the Bushrangers to progress to Saturday’s JLT Cup final against Western Australia.
Whatever Peter Handscomb’s reasons were for bowling first are probably valid, or at least were validated before the toss took place. But it still seems a strange tactic to put the team in a position where they have to chase down a total in order to win a game. It worked for them against New South wales where they blew their batting out of the water, but if a team gets away and posts a large total – and 5/339 off 48 overs is a LARGE total – all the pressure goes straight onto the team chasing, and any early wickets make the task almost impossible. Tasmania found that out on Tuesday and Queensland, and Victoria proved the case here yesterday.
The match was perfectly set up by two of the ‘unknowns’. With all of the Australian players back from India, there was an influx of selections for both sides, with Travis Head, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson coming in for South Australia – meaning the incredibly unfortunate Jake Lehmann missed out – while Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and Dan Christian returned for Victoria. Despite this, it was the Redbacks opening partnership of Jake Weatherald and Alex Carey that set up the game. Their partnership of 212 from just under 37 overs was the platform that gave the rest of the batting order the chance to explode and put the finishing touches to the innings. Carey was solidity itself, the anchor that allowed the partnership to flourish. His dismissal on 92 off 107 deliveries again stranded his short of his first century for his State, but this combined with his excellent glovework again will have put him well and truly in discussion for that other squad that is being announced in a few weeks. His partner Weatherald though starred once again, scoring his second century of the tournament and playing some wonderful strokes, both deft and bludgeoning. He has shown plenty of promise in his short career so far without actually nailing down some big scores. Turning only 23 in two weeks’ time there is plenty to like about his style, and perhaps this is the season he begins to get the payoff for his determination. His is one name to keep in the black book this summer.
With the start achieved, the middle order did their job. Travis Head smashed 29 from 16 deliveries, Alex Ross a similar 18 from 6 deliveries, while Tom Cooper again showed off his skills with a swift and sensual 59 from 24 balls, all of which meant 127 runs came from the final 72 deliveries. The Victorian bowlers had no answer, despite their excellent series. Tremain, Ahmed, even Peter Siddle who had been so frugal for a month was taken to the cleaners. The final total was even increased to Victoria having to chase 345 off 48 overs because of the earlier rain interruption.
As was to be expected, the Vics crumbled. Aaron Finch lived up to his reputation, being bowled between bat and pad for a golden duck. Handscomb was caught at first slip. Maxwell was plumb LBW to Zampa trying to sweep – at least conventionally. There was no saviour in the tail today, and the unheralded Dan Worrall and Cameron Valente did most of the damage. Worrall went for 62 runs, but picked up five invaluable wickets in his ten overs which destroyed the Victorian batting. Though his three ODI appearances in South Africa 12 months ago didn’t reap the rewards he would have hoped for, he has shown throughout the JLT Cup that he has the skills to improve in this form of the game. So too Valente, whose 2/23 off six overs again showed his all-round ability, something that may well get more of a look-in with the Redbacks this season. It was also +good from a national perspective to see Adam Zampa return and do well, his figures of 3/31 a good indicator that he is back on track after his Indian experience.
Does such a crushing defeat – by 176 runs no less – simply come down to a bad call after winning the toss? Nothing ever does. But if we all learned nothing else from Nasser Hussain’s reign as England captain fifteen years ago, it was that the popularised call of “Send ‘em in Nasser!” doesn’t come about if you win the toss and win, it only comes when you win the toss and insert the home team on a road and they score 2/380 on the first day of the series. Peter Handscomb may well have done well in taking that history with him when he was in the centre of the ground at 1.30pm yesterday afternoon.
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