Altona North’s man of the moment Connor Smith backed himself in to get the job done late in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association T20 grand final.
Smith was at the crease for the dying overs of the final on Tuesday night against Deer Park.
The match came down to the final ball with Smith on strike to Dean Russ.
Smith needed five for his side to claim the win.
As soon as he hit the ball, he knew that it was going over the boundary to get his side the win.
“It was really good,” he said the following day. “It’s a bit hard to speak about it.
“I knew that I was capable of hitting sixes. It came from somewhere and there was a bit of luck.
“I backed myself in and turned down a couple of singles in the final overs and I was able to hit it well.”
The Lions won the toss and decided to bat. They made 8-109 with Aaron Shellie top scoring with 32.
Thomas Taylor took three wickets for Altona North.
Smith, who is the club’s T20 captain, said at the halfway mark they were happy with their bowling performance and it had put them in a really good position.
The Lions took an early wicket in Altona North’s run chase before Altona North moved to 1-53 and was completely on top.
The wickets started to fall and Altona North slipped to 8-91.
Needing a run a ball the last three overs, Altona North was halted by Aaron Ayre and Dean Russ with three coming off each of the second and third last overs.
Smith said the pressure came back on that.
“We had a couple of overs of three runs, not even that,” he said. “When Andrew [Auciello] got out, I needed to step up to win the game for the boys.
“The pressure was on us. We needed 14 off the final over.”
There was a boundary early in the over and a wide, to give Altona North a chance.
It came down to the final ball and Smith was able to deliver as Altona North finished 8-111.
Taylor top scored with 46, while Smith finished 19 not out off 15 balls.
Smith said not having to work the next day meant he could have a few extra drinks after the match.
“It was really good,” he said. “We had a few drinks but everyone left relatively early.
“I stayed a bit longer and had a few more. I woke up to see all the messages from back home in England which is pretty cool..”
While Altona North has claimed the T20 title, there’s bigger things it is targeting.
Heading into the final round, Altona North sits atop the Isaacs Howarth Shield ladder.
“That’s the number one,” he said. “It would be good to back it up.
“We’ll be back at training on Thursday night and focus on winning the Saturday one.
“We’ve done really well and played how Luke [Rainone] the skipper wants us to do. We’ve been working on our fielding this year. We’ll stick with what we are doing and hopefully we’ll come out on top.”
