By David Nagel
It will long be remembered as the ‘Shootout at Lawson Poole Reserve’ as Cranbourne Meadows (7/311) and Lang Lang (275) produced a one-day batting masterclass in CCCA District Division on Saturday.
Two batters stood taller than the rest; with Manu Goraya (155 not out) playing a magnificent knock for the Rebels before Lang Lang skipper Oshadha Ariyadasa (142) almost brought the home-side to its knees with a mighty innings of his own.
The Rebels just had more support on offer, with Tanvir Singh (58), Amit Pal Singh (57) and skipper Amreek Mann (27) playing second-fiddle as Goraya showcased his talents.
Goraya cracked 18 fours and three powerful sixes in one of the best innings seen at Lawson Poole.
“We lost a wicket in the first over, and then we caught fire and were 80-odd in seven overs,” Mann told Star News.
“The ground was lightning quick, almost too quick; and when Manny (Goraya) got going nobody could stop him.
“I think his best individual score was 124, so to make 155 not out is a great achievement.
“He batted all 40 overs and stayed not out; it’s one of the best innings we have witnessed as a team.
“It was a chance-less innings; clean hitting at its best.”
Despite scoring at 7.8 runs per over, the Rebels were soon on the back foot as Ariyadasa strode to the crease with intent.
He saw off some terrific new-ball bowling from Pargat (2/25) and Mandhiraj Singh (0/24) before plundering the bowling to all parts.
“We were a bowler short, but he saw off the new bowlers and then he was unstoppable,” Mann said.
“They could have got us if someone could stay with him.
“We had a few players stay with Manny, to get to 311, but he stood tall by himself with not much help from the other end.
“It was a top innings; but we were happy to get the win in the end.”
Damien Quinlan (29) and Nilesh Hewage (28) also batted well for the Swamp Tigers, while Tanvir Singh (3/38) took bowling honours for the Rebels.
The next assignment for the second-placed Rebels is a visit to undefeated Officer, who smashed the Rebels for 9/444 on day one of round six before day two was abandoned due to rain.
The Rebels have also had some up-and-down form since that game, with paltry scores of 55 (NNG/Maryknoll) and 122 (Carlisle Park) ahead of Saturday’s run-feast.
“It’s been a season like that, with players going away and other players coming back in; it’s been like that for the whole season,” Mann explained.
“We bowled okay against Nar Nar Goon, and then collapsed for 55, and then Carlisle Park bowled really well when we played them.
“That was Manny’s first game from a break, and he batted alright and showed some good signs.
The Rebels’ skipper said his team is fired up for a big performance against the undisputed best team in the competition.
“We still have some players missing but we will be a better side than the two-day game we played against Officer,” Mann said.
“We are 100-percent up for this game, because when we play all the other teams it’s like,’ there’s Officer, then the rest’.
“We’re up for the challenge, and over the last few years we’ve beaten them in one-day games and things like that.
“But it’s a different game and a different year; we will give it our best and see what happens.”
Officer (4/157) tuned up for this week’s clash against the Rebels with a commanding victory over NNG/Maryknoll (9/154) at Officer.
The Bullants sent the Marygoons in, and initially met stern resistance as Troy Ferguson (30), James Markland (25) and Bijith Balakrishnan (19) held the visitors top-order together.
Luke Merrett (18 not out), Russell Perry (15) and Jarratt Eastburn (14) did likewise through the middle order, setting the Bullants a decent score.
Devon Gabriel-Brown (5/40) was the key destroyer for Officer, adding further credence to an already impressive season.
The Bullants lost their key play-maker in Chathura Imbulagoda (8) early in their reply, but Jaswinder Gill (64), Kade Perkins (45) and Jack James (23) made sure the negative vibes didn’t last long.
The Bullants remain undefeated, nine rounds into the season.
And Carlisle Park (4/273) will be ruing a missed opportunity to further cement itself inside the top four after its game against Emerald (0/46) was washed out after 50 overs of play at Chandler Reserve.
Things went ideally for the Vikings after Kasun Balasuriya had won the toss, with openers Dave Nutting (95) and Ethan de Vries (42) putting on 129 for the first wicket.
Things continued to flourish when Ben Perry (76 not out) arrived at the crease, with Balasuriya (16), Ethan Davies (14) and Adam Hollingworth (12 not out) all making double figures in their first hits back from the Christmas break.
Emerald made a solid start to its chase, with Michael Hoban (27 not out) and Michael Nell (13 not out) seeing the shine off the white ball before the looming dark skies brought an end to play.
Pakenham Upper/Toomuc had the bye.
CCCA District Summary
Ladder R9: Officer 116, Cranbourne Meadows 84, Pakenham Upper Toomuc 78, Carlisle Park 72/ Emerald 60, NNG/Maryknoll 48, Lang Lang 42.
Fixture R10 (One Day): OFFICER (1) v Cranbourne Meadows (2), Lang Lang (7) v PAK. UPPER/TOOMUC (3), NNG/MARYKNOLL (6) v Emerald (5). Bye: Carlisle Park
Top-5 Batting: Chathura Imbulagoda (Officer) 476, Oshadha Ariyadasa (Lang Lang) 408, Syed Akbar Shah (PUT) 330, Kasun Balasuriya (Carlisle Park) 326, Jaswinder Gill (Officer) 281.
Top-5 Bowling: Raja Sadiq (PUT) 23, Devon Gabriel-Brown (Officer) 22, Jaan Balasuriya (Carlisle Park) 20), Ben McLeod (PUT) 18, Cooper Pursell (Officer) 16.
