Redbacks stung again in tense finish

Perpetuating their opponent's early season reputation for featuring in one-day thrillers, Western Australia has scored a last-gasp three run win over South Australia in tonight's Mercantile Mutual Cup clash here at the WACA ground in Perth. At the end of a contest in which the advantage see-sawed consistently, the Warriors sealed their win when Brad Young, needing to strike a boundary from the last ball of the match to secure the Redbacks the four competition points on offer for victory, instead holed out to mid off.

By virtue of the result, the South Australians maintained their extraordinary record at the start of the domestic summer of figuring in contests that have hung in the balance until their very last delivery. Against Queensland in Brisbane two weeks ago, they also lost by three runs but turned that result around with a four run triumph over Tasmania at home the following weekend.

Here today, they did much the same as in their battle with the Bulls a fortnight ago. Against a strong batting line-up, they took vital early wickets but did not truly press home that early advantage, a flaw in their game for which they paid an expensive price when their own middle order narrowly failed to retrieve the situation.

This particular match proved a more dour affair than either of those previous two though. To a large extent, this was the result of some inclement weather in early afternoon which delayed the start by seventy-five minutes, made for a damp outfield, and caused bowlers and fielders alike no end of trouble in attempting to grip the ball cleanly. Not quite the prettiest contest therefore, it nevertheless featured three fine individual innings with the bat. Simon Katich (69) and Murray Goodwin (62*) played huge roles in helping the Warriors to a total of 5/233 after they had won the toss, before rival skipper Darren Lehmann (91*) brilliantly anchored the visitors' chase in a game reduced to a maximum of forty-four overs per side.

In the end, it was probably the ability of Katich and Goodwin to stay together through a crucial period of Western Australia's innings and mount easily the highest partnership of the day which was the defining factor in the match. Having come together with the Warriors at 3/68 in the twenty-first over, their century stand not only stabilised the ship but also laid the platform for a flurry of scoring that saw the home team add a crucial 123 runs during the concluding thirteen overs. It was quite a way for Katich to add to his match-saving Pura Cup century of earlier in the week; it was also quite a way for ex-Zimbabwe Test and One-Day International regular Goodwin to return to the Western Australian senior team following four years in his country of origin.

Nonetheless, the Western Australians' victory also owed a small measure of debt to other factors. In truth, their opponents contributed to their own demise with a mediocre fielding display in the difficult conditions. Even though it would have represented an almost miraculous catch, an airborne Lehmann grassed a chance to dismiss Katich (then on 4) at short mid wicket and, later on, Chris Davies spilt a much easier chance at deep mid wicket when Goodwin was on 20. There were also innumerable misfields and several of these came in the most expensive area possible - on the boundary. This stood in some contrast to the Warriors' fielding display, which was boosted by wonderful catches from Damien Martyn and Brad Hogg (each at backward point) to dismiss Redbacks' openers Greg Blewett (26) and David Fitzgerald (32) respectively.

It can not go without saying that a crucial mistake by Umpire Bruce Bennett also might have cost the South Australians dearly. Bennett miscounted the forty-first over of the South Australian innings (the fourth last of the match), terminating the stint of Kade Harvey (2/33 off seven overs) at the crease after a mere five deliveries instead of the regulation six. Although the ledger was balanced by the notion that fellow Umpire Keith Rinaldi had committed precisely the same mistake in the middle stages of the Western Australian innings, it was an especially unfortunate error in such a tight finish.

As for the conclusion itself, fast bowler Brad Williams (1/43 off eight overs) ended as the nominal local hero. With a succession of well-aimed, predominantly full deliveries, he was able to restrict both Lehmann and Young (9) as they sought to collect the ten runs that the visitors required off the final six balls. As matters transpired, it was left to Young to strike the winning blow; instead, he failed to time a lofted off drive correctly and merely spooned it into the hands of jubilant Western Australian captain Tom Moody stationed just inside the thirty-metre circle.