By Marcus Uhe
Cranbourne Meadows took the chocolates over Officer in a huge Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) District competition clash between two of the division’s heavyweight sides.
A handful of contributors helped Cranbourne Meadows set an impressive total of 7/240 at the Rebels’ home deck of Lawson Poole Reserve, before holding the Bullants to 9/215 in their chase to inflict a second consecutive loss.
Mohit Mandora was the most productive with the bat for the home side, hitting six sixes in his innings of 62, while Rohit Sharma (48) and Karanbir Tiwana (43) fell just shy of the half-century milestone.
Cooper Pursell and Noah Parraga were unusually expensive for the Bullants, conceding 7.6 and 9.2 runs per over, respectively.
Big scores were hard to come by for Officer, it’s batting card falling away drastically after the top four.
The early quartet all made starts but failed to go on with a prevailing knock, while the middle order could not offer the required reinforcements.
Samuel McDavitt bucked the trend of the lower half, top-scoring with an unbeaten 33, but his side ran out of overs in the pursuit, the early loss of wickets returning to haunt the ladder leaders.
Wickets were shared among the bowling group, led by Mandhiraj Singh’s 3/47, Sharma’s 2/32 making for an excellent all-round day for the Rebels’ star.
Cranbourne Meadows’ win cuts Officer’s lead at the top of the table to just eight points, with Upper Beaconsfield keeping the pressure on in third place.
The Maroons’ defended 201 on the road against Emerald, in a match littered with momentum swings.
After reaching 1/73 in the first innings, thanks to a 71-run stand between Joshua Westra and Imesh Jayasekara, things fell in a heap for Upper Beaconsfield, slumping to 6/97.
The two set batters were the first to go, with Daniel Brennan, Taylor Joyce and Kyle Gibbs all coming and going without much influence on the contest; Trent Rolfs the chief destroyer with three of the five wickets.
It was left to the skipper, William Haynes, and leg-spinning legend Scott Pitcher to resurrect the innings with important counter-punching knocks.
Haines hit 57 at better than a run-a-ball, with four sixes and five fours, Pitcher the steadier head with 34 not out.
Rolfs and Clinton Marsh each finished with three wickets for the Bombers, a side looking to build on a gusty win the week before against Lang Lang.
Sembakuttige Lakshan was the key wicket at the top of the Bombers’ batting order, watching three partners come-and-go as he provided the anchoring role in the chase.
Left-arm quick pair Daniel Brennan and Kyle Gibbs took the wickets at the top of the order, making inroads after a 53-run second-wicket partnership between Lakshan and Jordan Robinson.
Regular wickets fell in the middle order, scalps spread throughout the bowling attack to maintain pressure on the batting card.
All hope of a Bombers victory looked lost at 8/152, with plenty asked of the bottom three to chase the remaining 50 runs.
Marsh gave it his best shot, smacking 44 off just 30 deliveries with two sixes and three fours, but he departed with the target in sight at 9/195.
Remaining pair Sam Stapleton and Sebastian Mueller-Schmuki were unable to chase the remaining runs, Emerald falling a mere five runs short of an improbable victory.
Brennan, Gibbs and Andrew McDonald each grabbed a pair of wickets for Upper Beaconsfield, McDonald’s figures the best of the trio with 2/22 off his eight overs, featuring three maidens.
Lakshan’s 46 led the batting card for Emerald.
At Nar Nar Goon, the home side Marygoons were too strong for Lang Lang, ensuring the Tigers remain anchored to the foot of the table.
Darcy Taylor’s 69 was the backbone of the Marygoons’ innings, coming to the crease at a critical time after Greg Interlandi fell for a duck.
The home side posted 8/204 batting first, their second highest team total for the season, in which batting has been an issue, before keeping Lang Lang in-check.
The Marygoons attacked Jackson Pawsey, taking 41 runs off his five overs, but Pawsey persisted to claim the key wickets of Taylor, Jess Grima and Carter Davis in the middle order.
Lang Lang lacked the big score required to haul in a chase, reaching 9/167 in the 36th over.
The wickets of Prabath Kobbekaduwa and Dale Cranston for ducks in the middle order robbed the Tigers of two of their key players, while Rajind Dassanayake retired not out, too much falling to the remainder of the batting line up.
30s to Jeshan Pius and Alexander Giacco, and 43 to Oshadha Ariyadasa weren’t enough for the Tigers to snag a second win, falling 37 runs shy.
Davis was the pick of the Marygoon bowlers, taking 3/26 from eight overs.
