Last ball thriller

The weather was as hot as the action down at Raemaru Park last Saturday afternoon as the Anzac Battle of the Tasman Cricket match took place.

The Kiwis were looking to follow up their last over win from last year with a star studded line up which included national captain Hori Miller, while John Hobbs new look Aussie team looked confident heading on to the field.

Batting first, New Zealand started exceptionally well with Miller recording 8 leg side boundaries in the first 4 overs.

A spirited fight back from the Aussie side led to a feast of wickets, including the rare feat of a hat-trick by John Hobbs, seeing the New Zealand total pulled back to a modest 70 runs from 28 overs. Looking for 71 runs for victory, the Australians started quietly with tight bowling from eventual top wicket taker two steps Tom Vea causing plenty of headaches.

Some great partnerships in the middle overs from the Australian side kept the Aussies total ticking over and keeping the team in with a sniff, however it was an excellent display from batting pair Dean Head and Lee Warren who did the damage scoring 23 from their 4 overs.

However, there was plenty of good spirited controversy on the last ball of the match.

Needing only 1 run for victory, Lee Warren calmly played the ball to a vacant gully and set off for a single, what should had been an easy run out for the Kiwis went awry and Warren and Head made it through for the 1 run to take victory.

But confusion set in as Head left his crease to join his team mate to celebrate the victory with Kiwi fielders, believing (and some still believing) the batters were attempting a second run, effecting a run out.

This is where it became interesting as under normal playing conditions the run out wouldnt have affected the Australian score, but since it was a social match a 5 penalty run ruling for each wicket lost had been put in place, meaning the Australian total may be reduced to 66 runs, 5 short of victory.

With both teams celebrating in the middle, the matter was resolved in good spirits between both captains and the match director.

In true Anzac spirit the Kiwis captain honourably conceded that the batters may have been celebrating the victory and not attempting a second run, subsequently handing the Australians a hard fought and deserved victory.

With the Anzac Battle of the Tasman now tied up at 1 win each, a year of bragging rights now afforded to the Australians and with a controversial ending not soon to be forgotten, the 2012 rematch is sure to take on epic proportions as Australia look to retain the urn from what will be a spirited New Zealand side.