By Marcus Uhe
Pakenham Upper Toomuc has breathed life into its season and kept its finals chances alive with arguably the upset of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) District competition to date.
The Yabbies thrashed top-placed Officer by 73 runs in a One Day contest at Officer Recreation Reserve, inflicting the Bullants’ first loss of the 2023/24 campaign.
A trio of half-centuries to Brian Kulasena (69) Nicholas Kyval (55) and Raja Sadiq (52) formed the backbone of the Yabbies’ 215, in spite of a terrific bowling performance from Officer captain Cooper Pursell.
Pursell took two wickets in the opening over, including Danuka Prabath on the match’s first ball, to have the visitors in-trouble at 2/0.
When Mitch Mibus departed at the end of the second over, the Yabbies were 3/7.
Kulasena and Kyval then added 88 for the fourth wicket, Kulasena the aggressor and Kyval the steady head, to dig their side out of trouble.
Kyval shared in another significant stand of 101 with Kyval, before Pursell’s five-wicket haul helped roll the visitors for 215.
Pursell took 5/46 from his seven overs, his second bag of five in the season, to stretch his lead as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 25 scalps.
Noah Parraga and Devon Gabriel-Brown each took two wickets, in supporting roles for Pursell.
Sadiq then backed-up his half-century by taking 4/23, the architect in the Bullants’ demise for 142.
He removed both openers in consecutive overs after a typically aggressive start led by Jaswinder Gill, Officer racing to 0/23 after two overs.
Pakenham Upper Toomuc’s ability to make regular incisions to the batting line-up with the ball was the key, no Officer batter bettering Sam McDavitt’s 31.
He and Pursell added 38 for the seventh wicket as the skipper did his best to resurrect the innings, but their efforts were in vain.
Officer’s innings concluded after 36 overs, securing the huge result for the Yabbies.
Sadiq finished with 4/23 as the Yabbies’ standout bowler.
Cranbourne Meadows and Upper Beaconsfield have swapped places after the Rebels made a successful trip to the hills.
The Rebels chased the target of 154 in the 38th over, despite losing skipper Jass Dhaliwal in the opening over of the reply.
Partnerships of 65 between Rohit Sharma and Karanbir Tiwana, and 34 between Manu Goraya and Parminder Singh, did the bulk of the damage, withstanding separate wobbles of 2/5 and 3/4 during the innings.
Sharma’s 41 was the highest Rebel score, while Kyle Gibbs took 4/21 for the Maroons.
Earlier, the Maroons lost 6/26 at the back end of their innings, after a half-century from Joshua Westra got the innings off to an excellent start.
From 2/95, Westra’s wicket saw the innings dramatically fall away, only spared by a 32-run partnership for the final wicket from Gibbs and Jayden Joyce.
Sharma matched his efforts with the bat, with the ball, taking 3/25 from eight overs.
Emerald, meanwhile, has won its second game of the season, downing Lang Lang on the road by four wickets.
The match came down to the final over of the Emerald chase, with Michael Nell securing the result on the second ball of Prabath Kobbekaduwa’s over in the chase of 129.
Lang Lang was dismissed for 128 in the final over of its innings, Rajind Dassanayake 49 the only score of note.
A stingy Bombers bowling attack allowed just over three runs per over, led by Trent Rolfs’ 3/13 off six overs.
Clinton Marsh picked up 2/19 from his eight, before the chase began.
Sembakuttige Lakshan made a brisk 53 for Emerald but their scorecard resembled Lang Lang’s in a manner of ways.
Nell and Rolfs were the only other batters to reach double figures as the Tigers’ bowlers kept things equally tight.
Wickets in hand proved crucial in the chase, however, with Emerald only losing six compared to the home side’s 10.
Dale Cranston was the only multiple wicket taker for Lang Lang, taking 2/22 from his eight overs.
