By Jonty Ralphsmith
A five-wicket haul to spinner Ruwantha Kellapotha wasn’t enough for Casey South Melbourne to overcome Fitzroy Doncaster on Saturday.
After a 54-run opening stand, Kellapotha’s consistency through the middle of the innings restricted the visitors at Casey Fields.
Jack Stevenson got the vital wicket of Akshay Kodoth to break the opening stand before Kellapotha built pressure on the new batters.
The Swans bowled Fitzroy Doncaster out for 162 and appeared in control of the match, with the tail dismissed cheaply and none of the middle order batters able to convert their starts.
But Casey- South Melbourne was plagued by a similar issue.
First drop Yash Pednekar top-scored with 42 before being trapped in front of his stumps by former BBL spinner Arjun Nair.
The hosts were then left to rue their poor conversion.
Devin Pollock, Chris Benedek, Vinu Mohotty, Luke Shelton and Matthew Calder all scored between 15 and 20, but none were able to turn it into a game-winning hand.
Shelton, the skipper batting at number eight, looked as though he could be the game changer, but didn’t receive the necessary support from the tail.
Sitting 10th on the table with two wins from five games, the loss to a 15th placed opponent could sting in the context of the season.
The Swans have eighth-placed Melbourne University in a must win fixture on Saturday.
Meanwhile, emerging left arm quick Harry Hoekstra led the Second XI to a low-scoring 25-run win, lifting them to fourth on the ladder.
Hoekstra took 4/21 opening the bowling to help his side defend 202 after a Lenny Wilton half century carried the batting innings.
Casey’s Third XI was defeated by 109 runs and sit 12th on the ladder and the fourth Xi was beaten by 91 runs and currently sit at the bottom of the table.
