By Tara Murray
Sunshine is hoping to use the feeling of grand final defeat to spur it to greater heights in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Isaacs Howarth Shield next season.
It wasn’t the ending to the season the Crows were after as their bats struggled to get going and left them behind the eight ball after day one.
Crows captain-coach Shafraz Mohamed said the grand final loss really hurt.
“It was our worst performance for the season with the bat,” he said. “We couldn’t keep the momentum going those last 17 overs [on day one].
“It played a big part in losing the game.”
The Crows entered the grand final with Altona North as the only team to have beaten the minor premiers.
The Crows bowlers were able to restrict Altona North to 9-177 with the bat on day one.
Mohamed said they thought their bowlers had done a good job.
“To be fair, the bowlers stuck to the plan,” he said. “If you had given me that they would make 170, I would have been happy.
“It was a quick outfield and we thought it was a really gettable total.”
With 17 overs to face on day one, the Crows were hoping to set up the run chase.
Instead it was a disaster as they finished the day at 5-45 and in big trouble.
“The boys couldn’t cope with the pressure,” he said. “We didn’t handle the pressure and it cost us the game.”
Sunshine showed some fight early on day two and took the score to 5-90 and gave themselves some hope of pulling off the win.
Mohamed said they only did half the job as they were bowled out for 126.
“We started really well,” he said. “We were pretty much in the same spot as they were, 6-90.
“The set batsmen lost their wickets. Our grand final performance was our worst of the season.”
Mohamed said while they were disappointed with the result, there was a lot to take out of the season which saw them finally reach the grand final after a number of near misses.
“We are a pretty tight team, a talented team,” he said. “I’m actually pretty thankful to play in the side this year.
“We had a dominant season but come the grand final when it mattered we dropped the bucket.
“We still have a fairly young side. I hope they mature from this and able to have success in the finals next year.”
