By Marcus Uhe
A golden opportunity for Coomoora to climb into third place on the Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf 3 ladder has gone begging after letting a vulnerable HSD off the hook at home in round 12.
The Cobras prevailed by 75 runs, having ground their way to 259, and rolled Coomoora for 184, all but locking in a top-two finish in the process.
The Roos had HSD under major pressure at 5/47 in the first innings and with Triyan De Silva removed without scoring and Mackenzie Gardner not in the line-up, the Cobras looked at risk of losing top spot on the table.
But half-centuries from Harry Funnell and Jason Ward, and dropped catches from the Coomoora fielders lifted them out of trouble, as they posted 259.
Ward, in his first Turf 2 innings of the summer, looked more than comfortable at the level, making 74 at number seven and sharing in a pair of crucial partnerships.
He and Funnell added 77 for the sixth wicket before he joined his captain, Craig Hookey for a 70-run stand, departing having rescued his side from a dangerous position.
Important cameos from Ryan Patterson and Hookey forced Coomoora’s bowlers to bowl 78 overs and robbed the Roos batters of any bonus overs for their chase.
After losing Lance Baptist for just eight, Coomoora crawled out of the gates and reached 1/73 at the tea break, with Nick Suppree and Jarrod Munday patiently laying the foundations.
Munday’s dismissal was the beginning of the end for Coomoora, however, run out on 86 before the tail end failed to contribute.
The final seven wickets fell for just 35 runs, with spinner Sakuntha Liyanage taking for of the last five to finish with 5/53 for HSD.
HSD and Parkmore are tied on 54 points with two rounds to play, eight clear of third-place Cranbourne and 12 from fourth-placed Coomoora.
Parkmore and Coomoora, and HSD and Cranbourne, square-off in two-day contests beginning this weekend.
Around Turf 2, 6/41 from Rajika Fernando helped Lyndale win its fourth match in five rounds after defeating Parkfield by 79 runs at Parkfield Reserve, while St Mary’s is set to be relegated after a 176-run thrashing at the hands of Narre Warren.
Parkfield was rolled for 176 in the second innings, with only Dishan Malalasekera (42) and Travis D’Souza (60) passing 20.
Fernando’s haul has rocketed him to the top of the leading wicket takers list as the first player to reach 30 scalps.
Brendan Ash made 58 for Lyndale in the first innings, taking his average to 49.6 from his last three knocks.
Parkfield spinner Nicholas Jeffery took 5/56.
St Mary’s, meanwhile, was rolled for 60 chasing 9/236, and reached 6/171 in the second innings.
Their top seven were removed for single-figures scores with the eighth wicket falling with the score reading 36.
A gritty knock from President Troy Cashman saw the Saints hold on for 60, with Narre Warren’s bowlers sharing the wickets.
Duveen Arachchige made 79 in the second innings as the Saints avoided an outright by four wickets.
Amila Ratnaike’s 70 in the first innings saw him pass 500 runs for the summer and extend his lead over Harrison Carlyon in second place on the leading run scorers tally.
St Mary’s are now 12 points back from seventh-placed Narre Warren and look destined for Turf 3 next summer.
