A PART-time bowler’s hat-trick sparked a dramatic collapse of the cluBarham Raiders lower order, allowing Are Able Bulldogs to claim a miraculous comeback victory.
The Raiders looked on track when their second wicket fell at the end of the 11th over on 85, chasing the Bulldogs’ 144.
Warren Lolicato was racking up the runs after another strong start and the bowling attack was starting to lose belief.
But in claiming the wicket of Leigh Sobotnicki for 18, Bulldogs opening batsman Jonty Chaproniere gave a taste of what was to come.
Charlie King took the key wicket of Lolicato on 52 the next over and the 15th over was when Chaproniere quickly changed the game.
He began the over with the wicket of Joel Davidson and ended it with three more wickets in the final three deliveries.
Are Able Bulldogs captain Nathaniel Holmes-Brown described the moment of Chaproniere’s hat-trick as “one of the weirdest things I’ve seen in cricket”.
“It was really bizarre,” he said.
“Obviously Jonty doesn’t bowl that much, and we were in a real spot of bother at that moment.
“We were all pretty defeated and it looked to us that we were destined to lose that game.
“They really had us on the ropes. They really deserved to win that one I’d say.
“They had two batsmen out there that were in-from and really starting to get away from us, then I threw the ball to Jonty and the rest is history.”
After Lance Davidson was clean-bowled, Mason Laursen would follow in the same manner the very next ball.
With a total to protect, and with the Raiders needing 34 runs off the remaining five overs, Holmes-Brown decided to leave his fielders out on the fence to minimise the Raiders’ score.
But having no fielders around the bat didn’t matter for Chaproniere, who claimed his hat-trick with a ball to Jake Vallence that thundered into middle stump, sending players and fans into raptures.
“It was one of those feelings on a cricket field that you just love having,” Holmes-Brown said.
“Everyone was very excited, but we were all pretty speechless at the same time as well.
“Jonty has done the job a little bit for me throughout the season, just to fill in a couple of overs when I need him to.
“But (Saturday) panned out quite a bit better than we had all hoped for.
“That sort of stuff doesn’t really happen on the field very often, it was a massive turn of events.”
The bowling onslaught wasn’t done there, as the skipper himself very almost joined the hat-trick party in the next over.
Holmes-Browne took the wickets of Garry Lolicato and Riley D’Silva, followed by a big shout for LBW on the following ball.
The Raiders lost their final seven wickets for just seven runs, the Bulldogs bowling five batsmen in five balls.
Holmes-Browne said the turnaround ended the calendar year on a positive note, after their loss earlier in the day to Beverford Tavern Demons.
“It gives everyone a bit of momentum to have a nice little break, and then get back into the serious side of things next year,” he said.
