By David Nagel
Cal O’Hare (164) and Josh Lownds (116) now share more than a birthdate in common after the dynamic duo produced a club-record 262-run opening partnership to lead Tooradin (5/399) to an impregnable position against Clyde at Ramlegh Reserve on Saturday.
O’Hare, 35, and Lownds, six years his junior, overcame a sluggish start against some top-quality bowling from the Cougars to write their names into the record books.
A premiership captain at Tooradin, O’Hare chalked up his eighth ton for the club – to go with 34 half-centuries – and easily toppled his previous best innings of 135 made in 2016/17.
He has now made 6268 runs since the beginning of the 2008/09 season, averaging 33.52 along the journey.
Lownds also produced a career-best innings, knocking off his 104 from last season.
He has now made four centuries and 13 fifties, and continues to establish himself as one of the key pillars in the Seagulls’ premiership drive this season.
Just entering his prime, Lownds has now posted 2857 runs for the Gulls…and expect his 26.96 average to end up in the thirties.
O’Hare and Lownds went neck-and-neck to the triple-figure milestone, with O’Hare reaching 100 in the preceding over to Lownds.
The imposing opener said the going was pretty tough early.
“Clyde actually bowled really well at the start of the day, we had to be really patient, (Ankush) Rana, the young fella (Max Adams) and the first change (Nick Shannon) all kept us on our toes,” O’Hare said.
“It wasn’t a great day for bowling; and the outfield was quick, but we had to buckle down and be very patient early.
“We probably went at one per over for the first 20, but then settled in and we both wanted to make the most of it.
“It’s always good fun batting with Joshy; he’s a good player to spend time in the middle with.”
O’Hare struck 12 boundaries and seven towering sixes in his innings, while Lownds was slightly more circumspect with 12 boundaries alone.
The left-hander overcame some testing times in the heat to march on to the fourth century of his career.
“He went through a tough patch at around 50 or 60,” O’Hare said of Lownds.
“He actually came up to me at the end of one over and said he thought he was going to faint, but he got going again and hit some really nice shots.
“When he goes past fifty, he generally goes on and gets a big score.
“That’s his job, to bat all day, and he’s had a fantastic year with the ball and he’s such an important player for us.”
Much like Chris Smith at Pakenham; O’Hare’s huge knock ends a frustrating season to date.
Ahead of Saturday he had two half-centuries tucked away (64 and 85), but had wasted five other starts that ranged from 20 to 47.
It was time to cash in on a beautiful sunny day and the return of red-ball cricket.
“It feels like we’ve played a lot of one-day stuff, and I’ve had a lot of good starts, but it was great to be back playing two-day cricket again where you can control the tempo of the innings a bit better,” he said.
“You can set yourself to bat all day…and I was lucky enough to do that on the weekend.
“But yeah, I really wanted to go on with it; we spoke about it as a team that no-one had gone on and got a hundred this season.
“It was good for two of us to get big scores and cash in when we had the chance.
“Getting starts means you’re hitting the ball well if you’re consistently getting to those scores, but some soft outs have cost me some bigger scores.”
The Seagulls would eventually fall one-run short of 400, with Peter Sweeney (19), Dylan Sutton (42), Brad Butler (27) and Ben Mantel (16 not out) playing some nice cameos towards the end.
Shannon (21-0-117-3) was rewarded for his durable efforts in tough conditions for the Cougars, who had nine bowlers have a trundle.
O’Hare said there was still plenty of room for improvement for captain Mick Sweeney and his team to aim for.
“I think we’re going okay, but obviously we know there are other sides going pretty good as well,” he said.
“Cardy, Koowee and Pakky, they’re all good teams, but I think we still have plenty of room for improvement.
“Getting back to two-day cricket suits us I think, we’re pretty consistent all the way down with bat and ball, and we just need to work on getting that balance right.
“We did that well against Clyde; but those other top-four teams are going to be tough nuts to crack come finals.
“Ticking off a couple of big scores was nice; now we just need to get some bowlers bowling some nice long spells to get that side of things right for finals as well.
“It’s always an exciting time of year; with finals just around the corner.”
KOOWEERUP V DEVON MEADOWS 9/228
While there was mayhem aplenty across three grounds in the CCCA Premier Division on Saturday; one game took a more traditional two-day path as Devon Meadows (9/228) overcame some early hurdles to set Kooweerup a competitive total at Denhams Road.
Winning the toss and batting, Lucas Ligt (17) and his Panthers were soon on the back foot after the loss of four unproductive wickets.
And delightfully for Kooweerup, it was their skipper Luke McMaster (22-7-40-4) who inflicted the early damage….taking the first three.
McMaster, who suffered a lower-leg injury in a freak accident while walking off the ground at a dangerous Carlisle Park last week, showed no signs of symptoms as he ripped the heart out of the Panthers’ top order.
Will Halton (9), Steven Robinson (2) and Nathan Kleinig (1) were all back in the sheds, either caught behind, or caught in front of their stumps…as the team score reached 22.
But it was Joel Anderson (14-5-33-3) who then claimed the biggest scalp of them all.
Ligt, who had been well-held by the Kooweerup attack, feathered an edge through to Demons’ keeper Chris Bright, triggering wild celebrations from the home-sides’ fielding group.
Ligt was gone…the Panthers were 4/34…and this one had the look and feel of a familiar Kooweerup steamrolling!
But full credit goes to the Panthers for reversing the trend against a powerhouse of the competition.
Trent Delaney (67 off 128) and Jakeb McVicar (55 off 141) absorbed balls, and pressure, to frustrate the Demons with a rock-solid 113-run stand for the fifth wicket.
There was nothing overly exciting about their union, but the experienced heads simply dug themselves in for the fight.
It took a fourth wicket from McMaster, and a second for Anderson, to give the Demons back control.
McMaster knocked over the castle of Delaney to claim his first four-wicket haul for the season, before Anderson trapped McVicar in front, denying the Panthers an ‘in’ batter to guide them through the final overs.
But Nathan Worsteling (27), Riley Worsteling (25) and Arthur Churchill (14 not out) combined well enough to give their bowling unit a decent total to defend on day two.
Fine, sunny conditions are once again predicted for Saturday, but a chase of 229 will be a good gauge as to how the Demons’ batting stocks are situated with just three hits remaining in the season.
The underrated Rob Maskiell (14-2-52-2) joined McMaster and Anderson on the wicket-taking list for Koowee.
