Maccabi nearly make miracle comeback
Things only got worse for the Maccabi men when they had a nightmare start to their run chase, losing their first six wickets for just 84 runs
Courage, controversy and a constant flow of sixes ensured a thrilling finale to the 2022/23 Mercantile Cricket Association season in men’s B south-east grade last Sunday, when the Maccabi-AJAX Second XI fell eight agonising runs short of victory, in reply to Clayton District’s daunting target of 9/280 off 45 overs.
Batting first on their home turf of Jack Meade Reserve, Clayton’s batters weathered disciplined spells by experienced bowlers Eli Barr (5/48 in nine overs) and Daniel Jones (1/30 in nine overs) early on.
Then, led by man of the match Zafar Sheikh (118 runs off 123 balls), Clayton made the most of the ground’s short square boundaries, and some very wayward bowling, to set Maccabi-AJAX a required run rate of 6.22 per over.
Things only got worse for the Maccabi men when they had a nightmare start to their run chase, losing their first six wickets for just 84 runs, with Gaurav Karanjavkar (5/39) the chief destroyer.
The sixth dismissal hurt that extra bit more, when Gilad Meyerowitz was ruled by the umpires as being bowled out, despite the bails being removed not by the ball, but by Clayton wicketkeeper Rex Ho’s gloves – a moment captured by AJN photographer Peter Haskin.
Unfazed, teenage Maccabi-AJAX all-rounder Nadav Lowinger almost single-handedly brought his team back from the brink with an innings later described by head coach Greg Hurvitz as “undoubtedly the best I’ve seen at this level”.
Lowinger stared down Clayton’s attack, smashing his way to an epic, and very entertaining, 123 runs off 80 balls. His century included six sixes and nine fours.
Well supported by young tail-enders Ben Kupshik (19), and Noah Goldberg (seven not out), Lowinger’s fast scoring rate kept Maccabi alive, against all odds.
With one wicket remaining and 30 runs required off the last two overs, a huge six, good running between the wickets, and some wides and no balls, led to a nail-biting scenario for both teams midway through the final over, when Maccabi-AJAX needed eight runs to win off three balls.
Unfortunately for Maccabi, Lowinger’s incredible innings ended precisely then, when he was caught.
After the match, Hurvitz admitted, “When we were 6/84, I was thinking there was no way we could come back from there.
“But Nadav went about constructively deconstructing the opposition’s attack – and it got us to within eight runs of victory.
“And it came after he was angry at himself for being far from his best when bowling earlier that day.
“For him to bounce back from that showed tremendous resilience.
“It’s that sort of attitude – particularly by the younger players in the team – that’s a real positive for us for next season.”
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