Geelong Cricket Club’s Vic Super Slam season got off to a thrilling start on Tuesday night, falling by three wickets to Footscray at home.
It took a solid innings from Victorian representative Travis Dean to get Footscray over the line in the final over of the T20 game, after the Cats set a solid total of 4-143 after being sent into bat.
Hayden Butterworth and captain Josh McDonald got Geelong off to a steady start, regularly finding the boundary as they raced to 42 before Butterworth was dismissed for 19 in the sixth over.
The dismissal spurred McDonald on as he raced to 45 from just 31 balls before he was dismissed just after the halfway point of the inning.
The run rate slowed after that, but solid batting from Liam Blackford, who made a half century, and Joshua Larkin, who finished 21 not out, saw the Cats set a decent total.
Former Geelong quick Jake Reed was the pick of the bowlers for Footscray, taking 1-17 from his four overs.
The Cats’ bowling inning got off to a flyer when Lachie Field had Nathan Caulfield caught for a duck off the third ball of the first over, but the wicket brought Dean to the crease.
Dean played a strong inning, hitting 90 off just 61 balls to guide Footscray to victory with three balls to spare.
The Cats looked like pinching the win late, after the Footscray middle order collapsed and lost five wickets for 19 runs in just 20 balls.
A Cats’ win looked possible at 7-127 with just over two overs to go, but Dean made sure of the Footscray win, hitting 15 of the remaining 17 runs needed.
Daanish Mehta had the best bowling figures for Geelong, taking 2-15 from 2.3 overs, while young quick Vincent Huf finished with 1-30 from his four overs.
Geelong will now travel to Melbourne University next Tuesday for the second round of the T20 competition.
