Sport
10 December, 2024
Romana’s epic 114 delivers Laane’s flag
Cricket’s a game where you make your own luck sometimes — just ask Kamaljot Romana, who was the beneficiary of making 114 after he was dropped after just two balls.
Romana delivered an unforget-table one-day final knock on Sunday, claiming the best on ground medallion in the wash-up.
However, it almost never happened.
Facing a Ben Evans delivery, Romana spooned a ball straight to the waiting arms of Nick Henderson at cover, but the chance was dropped, and Laane’s livewire batsman set out to make Colts Phelans pay.
Romana said that chance didn’t deter him from playing his natural game.
“It definitely was a big day for us, being a final, but I wanted to play my natural game and I wanted to build partnerships so we could go for a long time and stay until the end,” he said.
“That’s what I was trying to do, hit the bad balls to the boundary to keep the strike rate up, taking the singles in-between as well, so the scorecard could keep on running.
“I didn’t want to stop playing shots. If I thought it was there, I would go for it, even if it’s the first ball, but that was one of the shots that I played that just didn’t connect well.
“After that, I decided I wanted to build a partnership a little bit, and go from there. I learned from a mistake.”
It’s a philosophy which has served Romana well so far.
When he has scored above double figures since arriving at Laane from Canada, where he played for Winnipeg in the Manitoba cricket league, he has converted it into at least a 50, with scores of 66 and 86 preceding his match-winning 114 on Sunday.
The two innings that he hasn’t scored above 10 required terrific fielding skills to remove him — a brilliant catch at short leg in the Maryborough District Cricket Association’s representative game against Grenville last week, before an equally-sharp catch from Clunes’ Mitch Coppick on Saturday at cover, preventing him from going on when he looked like he was starting to get comfortable.
Romana has simply been devastating for anything that’s been pitched anywhere wide of his off stump so far this season, and thwarted all of Colts’ plans on Sunday with 16 fours and a towering six.
“If the ball is there in my mark, I’ll go for it, but sometimes, I’ll create my own shots as well,” he said.
“I was dancing on the pitch and creating shots, and you have to do that at times, and be smart when you’re batting.
“If the bowler has sent fielders, you know he has a plan in mind, so you work on that and score runs accordingly.
“We were thinking about accelerating after 20 overs, but again, I was thinking about finding gaps and scoring runs there, and for that, if I needed to adjust my batting style, I can do that as well.”
His century was the first since Justin Bramble’s 145 in Laane’s 2019/20 one-day final victory against Maryborough — a similar game to the high-scoring affair on Sunday.
“It feels amazing to hear that it’s the first century in finals in five years, and I’m grateful for that,” Romana said.
“Wherever the team needs me, I’m there to help or contribute towards the team success, that’s what players should do, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
The Carisbrook Recreation Reserve pitch has clearly been a happy hunting ground for Romana, who now averages an even 100 on the ground, on top of averaging 68.8 for the season so far.
“This ground seems to be lucky for me. The wicket is good and so is the ground, it’s beautiful. It’s one of the grounds where you might feel more comfortable batting on the wicket,” he said.
A change to red-ball cricket means a change to Romana’s approach, and he’ll be out to build an innings throughout the rest of the campaign.
“Red-ball cricket is different as the ball swings more and it’s a lot more of a patient game,” he said.
“You have to be right on point with your skills and mindset. I’ll play according to that and I’ll adjust, as that’s how I play red-ball cricket. Let’s see how it goes.”