By David Nagel
To defend a crown, you first need to make finals – and Cardinia (6/192) has put a significant down-payment on that privilege by claiming a hard-fought four-wicket win over a plucky Carlisle Park (5/189) on Saturday.
The Bulls had to draw on their significant batting depth to drag them across the line after the Vikings’ two mainstays this season – Ravi Kodithuwakku (52) and Anurudda Fonseka (83) – and their skipper Aaron Straughair (29 not out), had batted the rank outsiders to a competitive position at tea.
Kodithuwakku – who leads the competition with 486 runs – combined with Fonseka for a 111-run partnership against Merinda Park last week.
The pair only put on 47 this time around, before Bulls’ skipper Jake Prosser (1/16 off 8) rattled the stumps of Kodithuwakku to leave the Vikings at a still competitive 2/78.
Fonseka – who cracked 11 fours – notched up his second-consecutive half century after giving the Cobras the run-around last week.
Fonseka and Straughair repaired a sticky situation for the Vikings, who have stumbled through the mid to lower order this year.
The pair saw off a high-quality bowling attack, sharing an 81-run partnership to give the home-side hopes of notching its first win of the season.
The reigning-champs had some work to do after tea, but the tidy efforts of Prosser and Lachie Volpe (0/18 off 8) – who conceded just 34 runs from their 16 combined overs – stopped things from blowing out to insurmountable levels.
But the Bulls, with their finals place still not assured…still had some work to do.
Opener Alex Nooy (61), for the second week running, saw the Bulls through some trouble times with Trav Wheller (8), Bradey Welsh (1), Brad Reiner (13) and Jacobus Hynes (11) all back in the pavilion with the Bulls still in double figures.
Nooy, who cracked two four and three sixes in his crucial knock, fell a short time later and the game was seriously in the balance with the reigning champs in trouble at 5/100.
The Bulls were basically starting the second half of their innings from scratch, with Prosser (36 not out) joining Leigh Patterson (34) who had not long been at the crease.
The experienced Bulls’ pair put on a steadying 55-run stand, before Volpe (24 not out off 20 balls) turned terminator, joining his skipper to pilot the Bulls’ home with 13 balls left to spare.
Nooy was impressive, striking his third Premier Division half century from his last six visits to the crease, but fellow top-order players – Wheller and Welsh – have hit a bit of a flat spot in recent times.
Both are class players, but with the level of competition this season they are non-negotiables to fire if the Bulls are to defend their crown come finals time.
Ethan Davies (2/37) was the only Viking to claim multiple wickets.
The fourth-placed Bulls can lock away a finals berth when they travel to fifth-placed Merinda Park this Saturday, while the Vikings hit the road for a winnable assignment against Clyde.
After scoring 7/164, 4/198 and 5/189 in recent weeks…the Vikings are a serious chance of claiming their first victory of the season!
