Jeetan Patel has finished his stellar playing career with a tidy spell and two more wickets to his tally, but not a Wellington Firebirds victory as the Central Stags proved too slick on their way to a 24-run win.
Patel was recognised for a career that has spanned two decades, receiving a guard of honour onto the Basin Reserve in his final match in yellow and black.
Fielding first, Patel was one of the best Firebirds bowlers on the day, showcasing some of the mastery that has made him a fixture in the team for so long and finishing with 2-30 off his four. He took his wickets total to 504 across all formats for Wellington and received a standing ovation as he walked from the field for the last time as a bowler with his two children by his side.
Earlier in the day, Tom Bruce won the toss for the Stags and backed his powerful batting lineup to have first use of the Basin Reserve track.
They began well with George Worker and Dane Cleaver each finding a quick boundary. Their stand was short-lived however and Worker was caught at wide mid-on with the Stags score at 18.
Cleaver was joined by Christian Leopard and the pair put on a brisk partnership to have the Stags well placed after eight overs.
Enter the man of the moment, Jeetan Patel, who snuck a faster one through Leopard’s defence to make the score 72-2.
Regular boundaries from Cleaver and Tom Bruce kept the scoreboard ticking. In amongst the big overs was the odd cheap one, which kept the Firebirds in the hunt with the run-rate hovering around eight.
Cleaver fell just short of an impressive fifty, run-out for 47 off 31 balls. That was followed by the dismissals of Kieran Noema-Barnett and Josh Clarkson in quick succession and the Firebirds had a chance to put the squeeze on. With the score at 134-5 with just over three overs to play, ascendancy was up for grabs.
The captain made sure that the momentum went the way of the Stags, hitting four boundaries off Jimmy Neesham in the 18th over and rocketing the score up by 22.
Looking to close out the innings in style, Bruce (56 off 34) was caught brilliantly in the outfield by Logan van Beek off the first ball of the final over. The wicket didn’t stem the run flow though with Willem Ludick and Ben Wheeler each finding the fence and pushing the Stags up to 183-6 at the break.
In response, the Wellington Firebirds found it difficult to get the scoreboard moving against a Stags bowling unit with plenty of international experience.
The dangerous Devon Conway was caught behind off the bowling of Blair Tickner for just two in the third over.
Michael Pollard (32 off 26) got going with a couple of sixes and along with Rachin Ravindra, looked to build a platform.
The Stags decided to take the pace off with Ajaz Patel and Noema-Barnett coming into the bowling attack. Both were outstanding and provided a combination of wickets and tight overs. By the time Michael Bracewell was caught in the deep off the bowling of Patel, the Firebirds were stalled at 63-4 and needing almost 12 runs an over to win.
Jimmy Neesham came in and provided an immediate counterattack, highlighted by three big sixes off the pace bowlers. When he fell for 37 off 20, the Firebirds still needed 72 of 33 balls and the chase was almost certainly out of reach.
The Stags now sit atop the table with two wins from two. The Firebirds have a win and a loss as they plot the rest of their season without the legendary off-spinner in the ranks.
Article added: Thursday 19 December 2019