By Marcus Uhe
Cranbourne Meadows’ unbeaten run in CCCA District cricket is on the brink of collapse thanks to a brilliant performance from Officer’s bowlers on day one of their two-day match at Officer Recreation Reserve.
The Bullants need only a further 27 runs to claim victory next week with the can of worms of an outright victory well and truly in play.
The Rebels were dismissed for 116 in 49 overs as numbers six to 11 in the batting line-up could only offer a combined 13 runs.
From 3/101, the final seven wickets fell for 15 to bring the innings to a close.
Cooper Pursell’s varied bowling attack all offered something, with five of six bowlers claiming a scalp.
Pursell and Devon Gabriel-Brown each took three wickets with the final five Rebels removed in the last six overs.
Manu Goraya top scored for the visitors with a patient 36 off 89 deliveries.
Officer reached 4/90 at stumps from 28 overs to ensure much of the leg work was out of the way.
Thomas Smith and Mandhiraj Singh split the four wickets evenly between themselves, and would have been enthused when Singh bowled Jaswinder Gill for 26 to reduce the home side to 3/43.
Kade Perkins and Ash Smith, however, provided Officer stability to guide them through to stumps.
Imesh Jayasekara’s salvage mission for Upper Beaconsfield has the Maroons in a winnable position heading in to day two, having posted 8/287 against Emerald at home.
The number three hit 152 off 208 deliveries when his side needed it the most after the remainder of the top order failed to fire.
The home side was reeling at 4/39 upon William Haines’ dismissal in the 19th over, bringing Jayasekara and Kyle Gibbs together for the fifth-wicket partnership.
When Gibbs was bowled by Sam Stapleton in the 66th for 65, the two had rescued the innings to 5/193.
Jayasekara added a further 68 runs with Blake Westra before departing the action with his share of the job well and truly taken care of.
Stapleton, Clinton Marsh and Sembakuttige Lakshan each took two wickets for the Bombers.
At Lang Lang, a century to Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll’s Greg Interlandi went great lengths in rectifying the Marygoons’ early season woes with the bat.
Coming to the crease at number three, Interlandi batted for nearly 65 overs to register his first hundred for the Marygoons, reaching the milestone in the final over of the day.
The visitors reached 9/267 at stumps, thanks in large part to a 101-run stand between Interlandi and his captain, Nathan Phillips, who kept the run rate ticking with 53 off 66 deliveries.
Interlandi’s knock overshadowed Oshadha Ariyadasa’s five-wicket haul, who took three in the final over to bring the day to a close.
5/41 from 15 overs makes for excellent reading for Ariyadasa, who could have taken a hat-trick on the final ball of the day, but was unsuccessful.
From 3/217, the Marygoons may have wanted more than 267, but lost the final six wickets for 50 runs.
Pakenham Upper/Toomuc has the bye.
