The way it finished up, the first ball of the 2016 Ford Trophy Grand Final could have said it all for Canterbury.
It wasn’t nasty. It wasn’t even that short. It just kicked up and clonked George Worker square on the helmet. The bowler was young Ed Nuttall, steaming in, Canterbury’s gun pace bowler of the season, who was vying with Devon Hotel Central Stag seamer Seth Rance for the most wickets for the competition.
By the 47th over, Worker had imposed 159 at better than a run a ball. His sweetly timed hundred would underpin a Pukekura Park record-equalling total of 405/6 that would surely put the trophy out of Canterbury’s reach. Canterbury would have felt like clonking him on the badge again another few more times, by then.
George Worker departs in the 47th over to a standing ovation. NZC
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His innings would pretty much be the distance between the two sides as the Stags went on to clinch a repeat one-day Ford Trophy title by 156 runs — their first ever successful defence.
Stats aren’t front of mind during a game. Records are mere embroidery to the result. The game is for winning, but the Stags did that — and then some, quashing a startling fightback from their visitors later in the afternoon.
The domestic List A record in New Zealand is 417 for six, the great match at Seddon Park in 2012/13 when Jamie How had scored The Ford Trophy’s only double century for the Stags, assisted by Jeet Raval. This record-equaller in the Final at Pukekura Park was now also the second highest total at any ground.
Besides equalling their own largest ever innings total at “Puke” (and only six down this time, all out last season), the Stags could be very proud of Tom Bruce whipping up the fastest fifty in New Zealand’s domestic one-day history en route to a lightning quick 71 off just 23 balls.
The Taranaki tornado’s half century flew off 16 deliveries (four boundaries, five sixes) and smashed the 19-ball record that had been shared by former SKYCITY Northern Knight Pete McGlashan and Cantabrian Shanan Stewart.
Captain Will Young, too, had added an important, fine fifty that pushed the score from healthy to ideal. He put Hira, Astle and Jamieson into the terraces. So much for Finals being low-scoring games.
Captain Will Young made an impact with the bat and, later, a stunning run out. NZC
It wasn’t all a flurry of big hitting. The Stags had got better as the season went on at judging when to unleash — controlling the excitement before going too hard, too fast.
Once set, there would always be at least one man in the talent-stacked order who could go on. But today, ultimately it was one assault force after the other.
Worker’s lively hundred was his eighth of his List A career and when he hit 120, he clocked up his 3000th List A run. Man of the match, it was his second century of the campaign, having combined with Jesse Ryder back in round two to get his team their first win, at the Basin, after they’d taken a tough first round hit against the very team they were now taking on in the Grand Final.
Worker put 12 fours and seven sixes around Pukekura Park. He had recovered quickly from that first ball clonking from Nuttall, respectfully let him have that first over, which had cost just a wide.
Then he put Kyle Jamieson sublimely through the covers in the fourth over on the way to contribruting 23 of the Stags’ first 30 runs inside the first five.
The straight man at the other end, Ben Smith then quickly caught up with five precision boundaries before the change, Logan van Beek and Andrew Ellis coming on in the ninth and 10th overs. Van Beek would finally get the first breakthrough for Canterbury with his third over: Smith caught on the boundary for a 38-ball 40.
That brought Jesse Ryder to the crease in his 150th List A appearance. Worker was on 37, the scoreboard on 80 and the runs already flowing before the powerful tour de force stepped up, coming off his career best, matchwinning hundred in the Qualifying Final.
Looking to snuff out the danger, Ellis quickly brought back Nuttall for a volley in the 15th. For a time, Nuttall, Ellis and Astle earned a little respect. However, Worker and Ryder knew the drill, settled in together and smoothly adjusted to the introduction of spin.
Ryder showed his big-match composure: orthodox shots, runs along the ground and bad ball boundaries did the job, almost casually flicking one off van Beek second ball.
Shortly Worker lifted his bat for the first of several times that day, for his half century, while Ryder finally boomed the first six of the match — one of his trademark shots, again flicked off van Beek, legside. It would open the gates, the first of 19 sixes from the Stags.
Not for the first time this season, the dynamite Ryder looked completely at home. He made boundary-hitting look too easy, completely unruffled as he started putting holes in the Canterbury attack and taking away their pep.
At the 30-over mark, the Stags looked well in charge with a platform of 181/1, on a deck where the humidity meant it was never going to be a motorway — but the Stags made it look that way.
Both Ryder and Worker had just pumped Ronnie Hira for sixes in the same over — Worker smacked his to bring up the 100-partnership off 103 balls and Ryder quickly approaching his fifty.
The crowd was sitting back and thoroughly enjoying the spectacle on a warm Taranaki afternoon.
At the halfway mark the expressive pair had pushed the score to 149 and Ryder would ultimately help himself to a smart 62 from 50 balls before Hira extracted a modicum of revenge by having him caught in the deep, breaking a stand that had swollen to 119 for the second wicket.
But it was about to get worse for Canterbury as the Stags piled on one fifty after another.
George Worker's second Ford Trophy ton this season came at the most critical moment. NZC
Will Young was in his first Ford Trophy campaign as captain at just 23 and now, like Tom Bruce, he had a dream opportunity of a title defence at his home park, first-up. Young fired when it mattered — wasting little time in putting Kyle Jamieson over the rope, getting Worker past his ton, then cracking his own half century off 30 balls (three boundaries, three sixes).
Young fell just a few shy of a second successive 100-stand built around the energy centre that was Worker, who was now putting the foot down — soon to fly past his even 150 with a boundary and two sixes.
There was almost shock when he was caught (in the deep, which was the only way the Stags would fall) for 159 off 151 balls after 187 entertaining minutes: twelve boundaries in all, seven sixes, so close to carrying his bat as the lynchpin.
Tom Bruce and George Worker had a license to thrill. NZC
But after Young had come the free-hitting Tom Bruce, with the perfect license to thrill thanks to a score of 281/3 on the board, with seven overs left at the death to cause Canterbury some serious pain. The runs were coming so fast now that the Stags put on a stunning 102 in the last five overs.
The Canterbury captain faced a tough day, dropping a sitter form Worker on 93. NZC
Andrew Ellis and Logan van Beek would feel the worst of it as Bruce ripped them apart, taking 28 from van Beek in just eight balls.
The Canterbury captain’s figures were left in tatters: 2-97 off 10, equalling his own most expensive one-day bowling stats. Yet Ellis conceded only 37 from his first seven overs.
His Canterbury team had been the dominant unit in the 2016 Ford Trophy, unbeaten until the last round, before the Stags had overcome them at Hagley Oval to snatch the right to a home Grand Final. It would be the turning point for both sides' confidence.
A washout in the subsequent last-chance semi had helped Canterbury get rid of the barnstorming Volts, but had offered them little in the way of preparation in a competition they had not won in a very long time.
Now it would be the fourth game in a row at the pointy end without the win. And, the esteemed 33-year-old allrounder was in the middle of one of those days.
In the last round of the regular competition, Ellis had been his closest yet to scoring a List A century, getting an unbeaten 96 — but in a losing effort against the Knights.
Now, just a three games later, he would get there — the maiden Ford Trophy hundred, after 104 List A games. Eight sixes and a half dozen boundaries gave his team an improbable chance.
But no sooner that he had reached the three figures than he was out — triumph and disaster in the space of two balls.
Seth Rance cominuted to shine, making the early breakthroughs. Photosport
Canterbury had needed an RPO of 8.12 from the outset, and unluckily were already down a batsman after Ken McClure’s hip trouble had flared up early in the game.
It was just a matter of minutes before the Stags were celebrating the first dismissal, Seth Rance trapping Leo Carter for no score in the opening over of the reply.
Three for one quickly became four for two thanks to a brilliant crack at the stumps from Will Young, who dived forward, then hit his target from side-on to run out Ronnie Hira next over.
The Stags revere a brilliant run out from their young captain. NZC
The developing headache grew for Canterbury in the seventh, when Peter Fulton gave Rance his second wicket — and the honour of being top wicket-taker for the season. Rance also claimed the best economy rate of any bowler in the competition, but this was not the hour for stats. Canterbury was 33/3, still 373 required.
Seamer Seth Rance would be the season's top wicket-taker with 19 wickets, at superb economy
Incredibly, from such a rocky start they managed to haul themselves into that position where, for a period through the middle, the Stags might have started to feel nervous about seeing 800 runs in a day.
Todd Astle, who had entered the fray in just the second over, and Ellis had put up a fight to the tune of 121 runs for 16.3 overs, keeping on target.
Jesse Ryder came back into the attack for the 24th over and immediately the partnership was broken off his first ball — Astle run out by Rance on 65, just after the pair had posted the Canterbury 150.
Todd Astle's fightback included 11 boundaries. Photosport
After 26 overs, Ellis, then on 62 with his strike rate in three figures, and new man Cameron Fletcher needed 10 an over. But Ryder struck an important blow, taking out Fletcher with a wicket maiden to make it 173/5.
With only four viable wickets left, Ellis was now forced to try to shoulder the burden. He helped tear 17 off the 29th over with two more sixes, off Ben Wheeler, moving his own score towards the 80s. He would still need 205 more off the last 20 overs, Canterbury 201/5 at the 30-over mark: in any other game, a decent position.
It took him just three more overs to knock off the elusive hundred, 101 raised with a boundary, in just 76 balls, under red hot pressure.
Triumph, and then, disaster.
Cole McConchie had already departed in the same over, caught in the deep off Bevan Small when Ellis had been on 97. Now Small had the key man Ellis walking back just three balls later, thanks to a wonderful catch from Indika Senarathne.
Kyle Jamieson and Logan van Beek faced a huge assignment now, 182 needed at almost 11 per over, both young men fresh and scoreless at the crease. Van Beek pumped a six off Small, but the distance would be way too much against the fired-up Stags. The end was coming fast, Small finishing with three wickets as the Stags wrapped it up with 12 overs and two balls to spare.
See the atmosphere and reaction on the day
In their final practice one day earlier, one after another the Stags had rehearsed launching it from the middle into the terraces. Manager and former player Lance Hamilton, by the rope, stuck his hand up to catch one of the incoming bombs — one-handed, while on the phone, without missing a beat to his caller.
That was a foreshadow of how easy the Stags made Finals cricket look on the big day — and this with neither star allrounder Doug Bracewell, who had been called into the BLACKCAPS after Mitchell McClenaghan had taken a ball in the face that week; nor last year’s all-time record wicket-taker Andrew Mathieson (who was out for the season with an injured back) in their mix.
Yet never before had the Stags done it back to back, a youngish side absorbing all the pressure of the occasion and home expectations to deliver in spades.
The Ford Trophy, now with their name on it three times, has gone back on top of the filing cabinet at McLean Park, and they will enter 2016/17 with the chance of a rare three-peat.
