By David Nagel
Tooradin (8/256) has executed the master-plan of a traditional two-day innings with clinical precision on Saturday as the Seagulls took the upper hand against Cardinia at Gunton Oval.
Keeping wickets in hand has always been the number-one ticket to two-day success, and the Gulls’ openers relished the chance to put their patience to the test.
Cal O’Hare (85 off 181) and Josh Lownds (22 off 91) wound back the clock, as a premium on wickets took precedence over runs.
Tooradin would eventually clock in at a tick over three runs per over, but the early stages of this contest were intriguing.
O’Hare and Lownds were in no hurry at all, initially seeing off the Bulls’ new-ball brigade of Josh Grogan (13-3-38-2) and Josh Browne (10-4-25-0) before settling in against the spinners.
Off-spinner Travis Wheller (31-12-72-3) grabbed hold of the rock at the beginning of the 20th over and would bowl unchanged from the members end – with the breeze at his back – for the remainder of the afternoon.
Wheller and Morteza Ali (10-3-40-1) tied down O’Hare and Lownds, with the pair taking 25 balls to score a run off Wheller.
The offie drifted onto the pads of O’Hare, who crunched the first ball of Wheller’s fifth over to the boundary cones.
Lownds would fall to Ali in the next over, the 29th of the innings, leaving the Gulls at 1/57 after playing across the line and being trapped LBW.
In strode Tooradin skipper Mick Sweeney (19)…who changed the minutiae of the contest.
Sweeney took a leaf out of the Michael Clarke ‘hymn’ book, using his feet against the slowies to create an absorbing contest.
Ali dropped short, and Sweeney punished him through the off-side for four, while the right-hander’s battle with Wheller was tremendous viewing.
Wheller bowled with great control, while Sweeney kept him on his toes with well-orchestrated use of the feet.
Sweeney gave Wheller a spectacular chance at a caught and bowled…and it would have been fitting if their battle ended in such a highlight.
Dean Henwood (12-1-56-2) would claim Sweeney and his brother Pete (0) in the same over, bringing Tom Hussey (58) to the crease.
From 3/91, the O’Hare/Hussey combination would pile on an 89-run partnership to take full control of the contest.
Were the runs flowing…no…but the Gulls veterans were simply batting their way into an impregnable position.
The Gulls lost momentum through the third-quarter of the contest, but a late rally from Liam Simpson (34 off 26) and Ben Parrott (16 not out from 29) has given them bragging rights after day one.
O’Hare is one of the finest stroke-players in the CCCA, but his ability to absorb early – and punish the loose ball – was top class.
His first 29 runs came from 83 balls – with 22 of those runs coming via four boundaries and a six.
Do the math…the remaining seven runs came from 78 balls!
But it was exactly what his team and his captain required.
O’Hare would finish with eight boundaries and four maximums in a very mature display.
Hussey, meanwhile, seems to be enjoying his cricket with scores of 44, 43 and 58 from his last three outings.
Wheller was superb for the Bulls, but he may to have to back up his three-wicket haul with a ton if the Bulls are to get across the line.
Merinda Park (2/85) captain Mat Campbell will be dreaming of the CCCA’s first outright victory of the season after the Cobras produced a dominant day-one display against Carlisle Park (107) on Saturday.
Campbell would have been thinking, ”Oh, no, not again” …after his opening bowler Rajan Rana went for eight runs from his first three balls – just the second over of the match.
Rana has been expensive and unreliable in his opening spells this season, but Campbell had no choice but to stick by his man.
Campbell’s instincts proved correct, with Rana (6-1-26-3) taking the wicket of Hasintha Jayasuriya (6) with the last ball of his second over to set the Cobras on the right track.
Just two balls later, Tyson Bertrand (16.3-6-26-5) had an aggressive Dave Nutting (16 off 12) caught by Dan McCalman and the Vikings were in trouble at 2/22.
Rana went unrewarded in his third and fourth overs, but struck a double-blow in his fifth when Suranga Kulasinghe (3) and the dangerous Kasun Balasuriya (0) departed the scene in consecutive balls.
Mark Henry (12) would hit the hat-trick ball for three…as Rana’s next five balls went for the accumulative total of 10 runs.
Campbell put his speedster in cotton-wool after his sixth over – his three wickets meant his job had been well-and-truly done.
The juxtaposition of Rana, Bertrand will be a reliable commodity for Campbell to call on this season.
Bertrand bowled an opening spell of 13 overs, with the undoubted highlight being a five-ball stretch where he claimed an impressive three wickets.
The wicket of Henry saw the Vikings tumble to 5/46, which became 6/46 when Jaan Balasuriya (0) was caught by Rumesh Ranasinghe for a duck.
The same pair combined to have Robert Fuller (0) removed without scoring, and the Vikings were almost dead and buried at 7/52.
Standing at the opposite end was Vikings’ skipper Ben Perry (59), who had seen five wickets fall for 30 runs.
Perry knew the departure of some key talent would affect the Vikings’ scoring power this season…but this must be the day when the full reality hit home!
From 7/52, the Vikings would add 55 runs, with only three of those not coming from the blade of Perry.
He faced 129 balls in his determined knock, with only four of those hitting the boundary ropes.
His half-century stood out like a beacon on the weekend.
It took the return of Bertrand – who claimed his fifth wicket to close the innings – to bring the patient vigil of Perry to a close.
With 24 overs to bowl, the Vikings had to strike quick – and strike often!
Jaan Balasuriya (9-1-28-2) gave them early hope, but a rock-solid 69-run stand between Adam Fisher (25) and Liam Bertrand (44 not out) would then steer the Cobras to safe ground.
The late-wicket of Fisher will give the Vikings a boost, but they’re headed for a tough day at the office to avoid outright victory.
And the bowler they will need to keep out early will be the enigmatic Rajan Rana!
“Bat your overs out and you’re always a chance.”
It’s a saying that we’ve all had drilled into us over the years, and one that Clyde (9/156) hopes will become prophetic when the Cougars look to defend their seemingly modest total against Devon Meadows on Saturday.
Ramlegh Reserve was hardly the place to be if you like exciting cricket on the weekend.
A strong breeze was blowing from the entrance end at Ramlegh, with Coby Podd (9-3-13-0) putting the spinnaker out and Jamie Cape (6-1-15-1) bowling into it.
The two right handers decided that an around-the-wicket line was the best bet to Clyde’s left-handed opening combination in Trevor Bauer (44) and Michael Vandort (3).
A row of four cars were parked at mid-on for the lefties on Saturday, and it was no surprise to see a neighbouring passenger asleep after the first seven overs of play.
Nothing was happening!
Podd and Cape bowled a tidy line, with very little effort being made by Bauer and Vandort to mix up the medicine.
Although appearing relaxed and content with the modest speed of scoring, the impact of the tight bowling was obviously having an impact on Vandort.
Off the last ball of the seventh over, he pushed a ball to mid off and would have been run out with a direct hit.
From the very next ball, he tried to hit Cape over mid-on and was caught by Lucas Ligt…who leapt high to his left to accept the catch.
It was a poor dismissal, with Cape gifted a wicket into the breeze.
Cougars’ skipper Zac Davis (2) then marched to the wicket, with Cape bowling to a very strong seven-two field.
Ligt (4-2-7-1) then replaced Cape at the “toiling end” …and was rewarded first ball when Davis tried to cut a wide loosener…and tickled one through to Will Halton.
The Cougars then enjoyed their best period of play for the contest, with Teddy Fonseka (22) joining Bauer for a 69-run third-wicket partnership.
Fonseka showed the intent missing from the early overs, clipping his first ball to mid-wicket to get off the mark.
The Cougars were 2/10 off 11…with Bauer on three runs from 36 balls.
But Fonseka’s appearance changed the momentum somewhat, with Bauer scoring 13 runs from his next 13 balls.
He clipped a four off his pads, then smacked a cover drive to the boundary, before a lovely late square-drive for three.
Ligt had seen enough…and took the pace off the ball for the remainder of the day.
Jakeb McVicar (27-13-36-3) and Lucas Carroll (20-10-28-4) took control of proceedings, with McVicar bowling an initial spell of 22 overs with the wind at his back.
The pair simply wore the Cougars down, who would slip from 2/76 to 8/104…losing 6/28 along the way.
Carroll was incredibly efficient, going at 1.4 runs per over while also being a wicket-taking threat.
But one man who does need runs on the board on day two is Cougars’ off-spinner Daniel Lever (24 not out) …who batted with the saying “Bat your overs out and you’re always a chance,” ringing in his head.
He put on a 19-run stand with Roshan Bandara (12) for the ninth wicket, before spending the final 11 overs at the crease with Max Adams (14 not out).
The pair remained unbeaten; adding 33 runs to a pretty poor-looking scoreboard.
But just how valuable those runs will be? We will know the answer by way earlier than 6pm on Saturday.
