The old cliche that cricket was the ultimate winner comes readily to mind, and with such a climax this was doubtlessly true. However, winners too was a Police side that consequently ended the 2008 leg of their Two-Day campaign with a perfect four wins from four games, retaining their top spot on the log to keep their vision of winning promotion to the 1A League next season very much alive - especially after having been denied exactly that the season before through a post-season boardroom decision.
The home side had been chasing a fairly stiff 182 to win from 45 overs, after having bowled Cape Town out for the second time in the match. Openers Zahid Allie and Walleed Enos gave their run chase a perfect start, posting 89 for the first wicket at better than the initial asking rate. Allie had survived two early skied chances before reaching double figures, but thereafter settled down to reach a fluent half-century that compensated for his narrowly missing out on doing so in the first innings as well. Enos for his part started with a flurry of boundaries as the visitors' seam bowlers struggled to make any impression, leading to the introduction of Wayne Hendricks's left-arm spin as early as the 14th over.
Once joined by off-spinner Matthew Olsen from the other end, Cape Town's spin twins began fulfilling the tall order of clawing their side back into the match. That they managed to do so was to their credit, and within barely six overs 89 without loss had regressed to 105 for four - and suddenly the visitors had an outside chance of at least saving the game. However, bits-and-pieces knocks by the Police middle-order kept them moving forwards - until another two quick wickets by Olsen threw everything into the melting pot at 146 for seven - 36 needed from six overs with just three wickets now in hand.
However, cometh the hour cometh the man, and home team skipper Wesley Euley stepped up to lead from the front. Straight-driving Hendricks for two big sixes and sweeping Olsen for another two fours, his crisp knock of 32 off 28 balls made the crucial difference at the critical juncture, reducing the equation to a simple-sounding mere five runs needed from two overs. Cape Town dug deep though, managing to take the game into the final over with three runs still wanted. When Olsen captured the ninth wicket without conceding run from the first four balls, the visitors' hopes soared again - but ultimately it was not destined to be.
In truth, Police had held the upper hand for much of the match though, reducing Cape Town to playing catch-up cricket for most of it. With the top half of their batting line-up failing in both innings - the visitors lost their first six wickets for just 55 in their first innings and a barely improved 80 in their second, it was left to some resilient batting on both occasions by the lower middle-order to keep the Plumstead-based side in contention.
Asked to bat first on a greenish pitch that displayed an alarming degree of variation in bounce, Police's opening bowlers Charlie Daniels and Mark de Stadler dominated the first 90 minutes of play, in which Dominic Telo was alone amongst the Cape Town top six in reaching 20. However, solid batting skills from the increasingly impressive Luke Petersen would prove to be a major stumbling block for the home side's bowlers in both innings, and on this first occasion he found great support from Rory O'Brien and Matthew Olsen. Thus, although Waleed Samsodien chipped in with two successive wickets, it was not before the seventh and eighth wickets had added 91 between them. By then Matthew Olsen was already in his stride, adding 40 out of 46 for the ninth wicket as well - en route to an invaluable Cape Town First XI career-best score of 67 from 74 balls. Displaying a full repertoire of on-drives, sweeps, clips off the pad and pull shots, he was full value for only the second half-century of his 38-match career.
Rory Cullinan then built on his impressive debut for Cape Town the week before, by taking the first two Police wickets within his first five overs, but thereafter first Allie and then Yaseen Vallie gradually began swinging the lost initiative back towards the home side. A short and sharp innings from Euley notwithstanding, it was a hard fight though. With the back-up bowlers Petersen and Marc de Beer doing their share, the home side lost wickets fairly regularly just when partnerships seemed to be forming. However, two lives granted to Vallie kept him at the crease throughout the last 2½ hours of the innings, and he reached a laboured 110-ball fifty before cutting loose when joined by the last two batsmen to crash a further 23 runs off his last 15 balls faced. He was ultimately left stranded though, as Olsen again performed his specialist role this season of wrapping up the tail - capturing the last two wickets almost on the stroke of close of play to peg Police's lead to a slim 14 runs.
Cape Town's openers knocked off that deficit without loss on the second morning, but thereafter the remainder of the session was dominated by de Stadler's seamers. Ably assisted by Euley's glovework in an amazing twelve-over pre-lunch spell, de Stadler sent back the first four Cape Town batsmen for single figures while conceding just six singles in return. Francois Vermaak stood firm at the other end to grind out a patient 30 in two hours, but he was the first of two victims in the space of eight balls from Ryan Daniels that left the visitors in real trouble at 80 for six. Again that man Petersen was on hand to thwart the home side's further progress though, scoring a composed 37 off 75 balls while adding 62 for the seventh wicket with his captain Jonathan Holgate. After a lean couple of knocks of late, Holgate was back to the gritty yet defiant form that was the hallmark of his first few innings of the season. Possessed of seemingly infinite patience, he helped eke out another 40 runs for the eighth wicket as well before reaching his first fifty in 27 innings from a whopping 143 balls faced. By then his efforts had maneouvered Cape Town into a position where they could actually start contemplating a declaration, but de Stadler returned to mop up the last two wickets quickly and complete a peerless six-for, leaving Holgate still standing firm after almost 3½ hours of resolute resistance. It was just a pity for Cape Town that the target of 182 thus set would prove to be just a handful of runs too few.
