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READ MORE - Hamblin bags 11-13 across BDCA double-header
NICK Gladman is hopeful his last over heroics with the bat last Sunday can give Sandhurst a platform to launch from in the Bendigo District Cricket Association.
In what was his last game for the Dragons with his Premier Cricket season for Essendon to start this weekend, Gladman held his nerve superbly under pressure to deliver Sandhurst a much-needed win at the expense of Bendigo.
Chasing Bendigo's 4-218 at Weeroona Oval, the Dragons had started the final over needing 12 runs to win with Gladman and Will Gadsden at the crease and Declan Slingo with ball in hand for the Goers.
"Will and I spoke before the last over that the best way to look at it was we just needed to get two a ball and that if we could get a boundary then it would be a bonus," Gladman said on Wednesday.
All the Dragons could muster though from Slingo's first three deliveries were three singles, before Gladman scored two off the fourth ball, leaving the equation seven needed to win off two deliveries.
At that stage the game still appeared in Bendigo's favour, before Gladman launched a six to mid-wicket off the fifth ball that just cleared Bendigo's Jotham Higgs to tie the scores.
"I had tried to hit it to the exact same spot in the previous over, but never got hold of any of them. Thankfully, that one just got over the rope," Gladman said.
"Then with the last ball and needing just the one to win, I didn't know what I wanted to do... whether to just get bat on ball and scurry through for a single or to try and clear the field.
"But in the end instinct kicked in, I saw the ball and just hit it."
Gladman cracked the last ball straight down the ground for four to get the Dragons over the line for their second win of the season and avoid a "super over".
Gladman finished 23 n.o. off just 12 balls, while he was also pivotal in the Dragons' other win of the season when he made 69 off 59 against Bendigo United in round two.
"I've loved being back and playing a few games with Sandhurst. I've been able to bat up the order a bit and get a few runs,"Gladman said.
"Hopefully, the win on Sunday provides them with a bit of momentum going into this weekend and for the rest of the season."
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