‘It was horrific’: Tassie greats recall ’07-08 one-day triumph

It was a cold, wet Hobart night in February 2008.

As a sliver of white settled on the peak of the neighbouring Kunanyi/Mt Wellington and misty rain fell on Bellerive Oval, Ben Hilfenhaus walked to the pitch.

Tasmania were three runs shy of victory over Victoria in the final of the 2007-08 domestic One-Day Cup final.

The 24-year-old Hilfenhaus was the Tigers’ No.11 batter and recalls feeling anything but composed.

“I was very nervous … I was shitting myself actually,” Hilfenhaus said.

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The scene for the decider of then-named Ford Ranger Cup was perfectly set. 

Both Tasmania and Victoria had won seven of their 10 home-and-away matches, with Tassie finishing higher thanks to a couple of extra bonus points.

Only a dicey weather forecast threatened to spoil what would be a cracking contest, with 16 of the 22 players past, current or future national players.

After choosing to bat first, the visiting Victorians were blown away inside the first Powerplay by Tasmania’s new-ball pairing of Hilfenhaus and Brett Geeves.

The duo had the white Kookaburra swinging and had reduced the star-studded Vics 4-47 in no time. Michael Klinger, Rob Quiney, Brad Hodge and Cameron White were all back in the pavilion.

The rearguard came from David Hussey and Andrew McDonald, who put on a partnership worth 80 to put some valuable ‘runs on the board’ as the Hobart weather closed in.

The key breakthrough came via left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, as Hussey mistimed a cut shot and was caught off the tweaker for an even 50.

“Dave Hussey was no doubt my favourite guy to get out,” Doherty told the Unplayable Podcast ahead of Wednesday’s One-Day Cup final, the first to be staged at Bellerive Oval since that memorable match.

“It didn’t happen very often. He absolutely bullied me in all forms of cricket.

“(But) I did get him out that day in the final.”

Victoria were dismissed for a paltry 158 in 37.3 overs, with Doherty (4-18) having a day out after the good work done by Geeves (3-28) and Hilfenhaus (3-32) with the new ball.

But as the afternoon progressed, the temperature dropped and the heavens opened.

The hosts’ chase was delayed by 25 minutes but it wasn’t until the teams were forced off again at 2-41 due to inclement weather that their target was revised.

Only three overs were lost but the breaks in play were favouring Victoria.

Clint McKay picked up the wickets of the tournament’s leading run-scorer Michael Dighton and George Bailey in the space of a couple of overs. Then, Shane Harwood had Tigers captain Dan Marsh lbw.

Tasmania had slumped to 5-76 and although Travis Birt and Mark Divin dug in for a few overs, the umpires stopped play once again at 5-89 in the 20th over.

It was an agonising 65-minute wait for the players, who not only had to wait for the rain to clear, but the light to improve.

“It was before Bellerive (Oval) had lights, so I reckon we were off for bad light (too),” Doherty recalled.

“It was horrific. I remember the weather started off being OK, but it was horrific in the end, sideways rain and dark and dingy.

“It snowed that night, there was snow on Mt Wellington.

“That never happens in the summer, particularly in the middle of February.”

When play finally resumed at 5.41pm local time, 16 overs had been lost.

Instead of Tasmania needing 69 runs off 182 balls, their revised target now had them needing 42 off 68.

Vics captain White needed a spark and threw the ball to leg-spinner Bryce McGain for the first time in the innings.

It was a master stroke, with McGain proving too much for a lower order to handle, dismissing Divin (18), Doherty (0) and Brendan Drew (0) in the space of five overs.

Although Travis Birt’s steady hand had helped Tasmania move to 8-128 – three runs from victory – he was at the non-striker’s end when McGain had Drew caught behind in the game’s penultimate over.

The final batter, Hilfenhaus, needed to survive two of McGain’s fizzing deliveries to give Birt a chance in the last over.

He blocked the first and then left the second, wide outside off stump.

Birt, on 34, was in no mood to hang around until the very end and guided the first ball of McDonald’s final over through third for the winning runs, giving Tasmania a thrilling one wicket win.

“Sometimes I have brain explosions when I’m batting,” Hilfenhaus later confessed.

“All I had to do was keep the ball out and let Travis hit the winning runs.

“It all went to plan, so that was good.”

Tasmania took the title, the third in their history and second in four years, and the players celebrated not outside in a beer garden, but in a cosy “English style pub” because of the wintery weather, according to Doherty.

Despite one of the finer efforts of his career, the spinner was pipped for the end-of-match honours, which went the way of Geeves for his three wickets and invaluable six runs from 20 balls.

“I didn’t get man of the match, which is a bit of source of frustration,” Doherty admitted. “Geeves took three for 30 and knocked over the top order and made some runs.

“In the meantime, when the game was on the line, I ran down the wicket and got stumped off Bryce McGain for a duck.

“So that’s probably what cost me.”

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