Sometimes, three deliveries can make all the difference in a game of cricket.
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Such was the case on Saturday, during the Goulburn District Cricket Association's First Grade grand final between the Tatts Stags and Hibo Cricket Club at Seiffert Oval.
The Stags won the toss and sent Hibo in to bat first on a bowler-friendly wicket.
After an early collapse, the defending champions resurrected their innings to partnerships of 39 between Chris Duffy (31) and Jack McEntee (9) and 44 between Nathan Stewart (25) and Cameron Herd (18).
From 4-33, Hibo ground its way to 127 all out, which looked eminently defensible on a wicket which displayed variable bounce and seam movement.
Andrew Tivey was the standout for the bowling side, with a haul of 5-30 from eight overs.
In response, the Stags stumbled to 7-74. A blistering knock of 36 from 20 balls from Dylan Maddock gave them some small propulsion, but the end was nigh once he fell, caught off the bowling of Duffy.
After more than four hours and nearly 60 overs of action, a sudden and thunderous downpour struck Goulburn, which forced the players off the field.
Though the deluge only lasted for ten minutes, its intensity rendered the pitch unplayable.
When the players came off, 19.3 overs had been bowled by Hibo. Unfortunately, 20 overs are needed to consider a match complete.
Had three more deliveries been bowled, Hibo likely would have claimed another trophy based on Duckworth-Lewis calculations. Instead, the match will be replayed this coming Saturday.
"It's definitely frustrating, because we want the grand final to be decided," Stags captain Simon Fitzsimmons said after the match was abandoned.
"You don't want to come back next week, which looks like it's going to happen. Whether we win or lose, we want it to be on the day."
The end of the match on Saturday was, in an ironic sense, fittingly representative of the rest of the season, in which most sides only played six games after consistent rain washed out nearly half of the available rounds.
"As the way the season goes, we were ready to play every game and then it ended up bucketing with rain most of the time," Hibo captain Luke Hayward said.
"I think we lost four games to rain, and you can't really have a decent comp when you can't get on.
"Then you end up having a grand final between teams that have only played potentially four or five games.
"It seems fitting, but none of the twenty boys in the pavilion are particularly happy right now."
The difficulty now for both captains will be trying to spark the same fire in their players the second time around. To be so close to a resolution only to have it washed away is dispiriting for many of the players involved.
"There's definitely going to be a lot of the boys thinking 'We've already played this game'," Fitzsimmons said.
"If we have to come out here, which looks likely, we'll get ready for it. But it's going to be difficult because I know a few of my guys have already made plans out of town, and for a lot of these boys, it'll be their first weekend with their families in nearly six months."
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