Officer (9/398) star Chathura Imbulagoda (150) officially has the hot-hand in CCCA District Division after the exciting opener made it back-to-back centuries against Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (300) at Spencer Street on Saturday.
Backing up his 101 against Lang Lang in round four, Imbulagoda was the ‘headline’ act as a cast of Bullants made their intentions abundantly clear for the 2024/25 season.
The Bullants are premiership favourites for a reason, and gained further confidence and belief after making the Marygoons suffer on a brilliant day for batting on the weekend.
Imbulagoda lost two key allies, Jaswinder Gill (10) and Jack James (13) early, but built match-winning partnerships with Ash Smith (43) and Kuldeep Sidhu (55) to propel the visitors to victory.
Imbulagoda and Smith added 140 for the third wicket, before Sidhu belted five boundaries and a six in a 75-run stand that took the Bullants to within 50 runs of their target.
Officer then lost the wickets of Sam McDavitt (5), Kade Perkins (8) and Nick McLennan (3), before skipper Cooper Pursell (72 not out) joined Sidhu for the victory lap…making the most of his first innings this season.
Pursell smacked nine fours in his 57-ball stay at the crease, with most of his runs coming after the Bullants had marched to victory.
The Bullants batted out their full allotment of overs, with Pursell and Dan Irvine (8 not out) the undefeated batters at the close of play.
Imbulagoda, who now sits number-one on the CCCA District batting list with 288 runs, crunched 19 boundaries in his epic innings.
Niluka Gamage (3/62 off 23) was the standout toiler for the Marygoons, while Gayan De Silva (2/85) and Nick Mueller (2/68) took two wickets each on a long day at the officer for the home side.
The Marygoons will look to stay in finals contention this week, on a tricky trip to Emerald, while Officer will take a mountain of confidence into a top-of-the-table clash against Cranbourne Meadows.
Neither side has lost a game this season, with Cranbourne Meadows (7/269) maintaining their lofty rating with an impressive run-chase against Lang Lang (234).
Things didn’t start well for the Rebels, who were 2/6 after Iqbal Soi (2) and Narinder Kumar (0) had lost their wickets early, but the visitors soon had their chase back on track.
Tanvir Singh (70) kept the Rebels in the hunt prior to tea, dominating a 71-run stand with Mohit Mandora (14) that gave buoyancy to an ailing ship.
But Mandora and Tanvir both fell in quick succession, leaving the Rebels vulnerable at 4/94 – still 140 runs away from their target.
But skipper Amreek Mann (30 from 122 balls) dug in for the fight, playing a patient innings as Mandhiraj Singh (84 off 80 balls) closed in on the winning score.
Mandhiraj clipped six boundaries and two over the ropes in a 119-run partnership that helped secure the premiership points.
Mann was at the crease with Gurpreet Sandhu (45 not out) as the Rebels added a third win to two draws this season.
Alex Giacco (2/67) and max de Longville (2/61) claimed the early scalps for Lang Lang and were the only multiple wicket-takers on the day.
Carlisle Park (6/300) is back on the winner’s list after the Vikings defended their day-one total against Emerald (9/252) on Saturday.
Jaan Balasuriya (2/29) struck an early blow for the Vikings, but the Bombers refused to buckle with opener Michael Hoban (61 off 175) and skipper Owen Thorne (54 off 113) knuckling down for very patient stays at the crease.
Hoban backed up his 39 not out from round four with a fighting half-century, while Thorne responded to a very quiet start to the season.
Prior to the weekend Thorne had made just three runs from two visits to the middle, so his innings was a welcome return to form.
The Bombers just lost wickets at crucial times, with a 38-run stand between Hoban and Jordan Robinson (28) the best the visitors could offer after Hoban and Thorne put on 87 for the second wicket.
The Bombers fell behind the run-rate, and the game was over well before 80 overs were bowled, but an undefeated 35-run partnership between Bailey Tucker (26 not out) and Sebastion Mueller-Schmuki (10 not out) showed the Bombers have some depth in the lower reaches of their batting list.
Balasuriya, Adam Hassan (2/18) and Adam Hollingworth (2/57) were key performers for the Vikings, who have snuck their way into fourth place on the ladder.
And finally, Pakenham Upper/Toomuc (174) has leapfrogged its way to third after the Yabbies claimed an outright victory over Melbourne Sixers (97 and 37) at Harry Blackman Oval.
The Sixers were bordering on embarrassing on day two, resuming at 1/18 and being steamrolled in just 19 overs.
Let’s take nothing away from the incredible bowling of Raja Sadiq (6/20 off 10), who claimed his second six-wicket haul of the season, but the main talking point out of this clash was the Sixers inability to compete.
They lost 19 wickets for the match, inside 49 overs, and need to show more when they host Carlisle Park this week.
Sadiq claimed seven wickets for the match and now has 17 for the season, leading Officer’s Devon Gabriel-Brown by four poles after five rounds.
Ben McLeod (3/17) was again provided the perfect foil for Sadiq, taking three wickets to make it nine victims this summer.
DISTRICT STATS
BATTING
Chathura Imbulagoda Officer 288
Michael Nell Emerald 228
Oshadha Ariyadasa Lang Lang 226
Kasun Balasuriya Carlisle Park 179
Jaswinder Gill Officer 161
Troy Ferguson NNG/Maryknoll 160
Bimsara Kalhara Melbourne Sixers 151
Mandhiraj Singh Cranbourne Meadows 144
Ethan Davies Carlisle Park 143
Theekshana Hettiarachchi Lang Lang 142
BOWLING
Raja Sadiq Pak. Upper/Toomuc 17
Devon Gabriel-Brown Officer 13
Jaan Balasuriya Carlisle Park 12
Niluka Gamage NNG/Maryknoll 11
Theekshana Hettiarachchi Lang Lang 9
Gayan De Silva NNG/Maryknoll 9
Cooper Pursell Officer 9
Ben Mcleod Pak. Upper/Toomuc 9
Pargat Singh Cranbourne Meadows 8
