In what has been a familiar sight throughout the GVBBL season, local legend Paul Newman did the damage for the Hounds, as he carried his bat to finish with a destructive 87 off 49 balls to see his team to an imposing total of 6-154 off their 16 overs.
But — despite losing a wicket with the first ball of the innings — the two-time champions would not go down without a fight, as classy knocks by Daniel Clohesy (40 off 23), Jai Lemire (35 off 21) and Tyler Larkin (28 off 22) had the Mud Dogs in a position where they needed just three runs to win off the final ball.
But thankfully for the home-town Hounds, Dylan Cuttriss produced the perfect yorker, which Mud Dogs veteran Taylor Beard was only able to squeeze into the leg side for a single.
A result that saw the Hounds finish the home and away season a perfect three-for-three, coach Peter Learmonth was full of praise for how his squad managed to grind out the win.
“It is T20 cricket, everything can change in the space of one-ball, whether the opposition hits a six or you take a wicket, so it was definitely a nervous watch,” Learmonth said.
“Four or five times the momentum shifted dramatically in the last few overs, so for Dylan (Cuttriss) to come up with that perfect last ball it was fantastic.
“Overall there was a really high-standard of cricket on display, which was great for the fans here today and great for the competition.”
A delayed start saw the match reduced to a 16 overs aside contest, as the Mud Dogs sent the Hounds in on a wet Kyabram deck.
But the tough conditions did not faze local legend Newman, who strode to the crease and immediately went about sending the Mud Dogs bowlers to all parts.
An innings built around brute power, he found the boundary on 15 occasions (hitting 12 fours and three sixes), which immediately took the pressure off his teammates.
The locals were also thrilled by an entertaining, yet brief, cameo by Kyle Mueller who came out and whacked 20 off seven balls which included back-to-back maximums.
But at the end of the day it was the Newman show at Kyabram Recreation Reserve, as he accounted for over half of his team’s score and boosted his season total to a whopping 204 runs at an average of 204.0.
“Paul is just a superstar that just keeps churning out runs, and he is an even better guy off the field as well,” Learmonth said.
“Him batting so well, it made it easier for the rest of the guys to get going as well and he just took the pressure off with how often he was able to find the boundary.
“It was just another classic Newmo knock that ultimately put us in position to win.”
With a hefty total behind them, big quick Cameron Stevenson then got the Hounds off to the perfect start, as he dismissed marquee Mud Dogs opener Zane Keighran with the first ball of the innings.
Spin king Darin Ohlsen then quickly doubled the dose, making a mess of Andrew Chalkley’s stumps to have the visitors in all-sorts at 2-16.
This would bring Clohesy and Lemire to the crease, and with a license to swing, the pair rapidly rebuilt the Mud Dogs chase and brought them back into the game.
Mixing power with finesse, the pair added 68 for the second wicket to have the Mud Dogs ahead of the required run rate at the halfway point.
This is where the game took another dramatic turn, as the Hounds bowlers found their mark and removed the dangerous pair to tip the scales in their favour.
But with the class of Larkin now taking over, the crowd at Kyabram knew this was going to the bitter-end, with his 28 positioning the visitors beautifully for a famous victory.
With the game up for grabs, Hounds skipper Adam Ward threw the ball to Stevenson for the penultimate over and the big man delivered, going for just five runs and taking a key scalp to give Cuttriss enough leeway to see the home side to victory in the last over.
This result sets up a fascinating final between the Hounds and Jarvis Delahey Crushers on Sunday February 19 at Deakin Reserve, and ended all hopes of seeing a third straight decider between the boys in blue and the Mud Dogs.
“It’s going to be a different facing the Crushers instead of the Mud Dogs, but the boys are super excited to take the next step,” Learmonth said.
“We are very motivated to reward Sheppo (Brenton Sheppard the Hounds owner) for all the hard work he has put in over the past three years.”
