By Justin Schwarze
The poor weather wasn’t enough to hold back Ash Smith in his wonderful batting display in round 13 of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association District competition.
First day action at Rob Porter Reserve featured the first placed Bullants hosting the finals-hopeful Vikings in a crucial matchup with just two rounds to go.
Carlisle Park won the toss and sent the hosts into bat.
Star bowler Jaan Balasuriya provided the game’s first piece of action, removing opener Jaswinder Gill in the fifth over, with Gill scoring just nine runs.
However, with the tough conditions, Officer defended at the crease to ensure it didn’t lose another wicket.
After facing 42 balls and adding 17, Kuldeep Sidhu was caught out off the bowling of Balasuriya, leaving the Bullants 2/51.
Smith was the next man to the crease, and he showed he belonged.
The former skipper and remaining opener Chathura Imbulagoda survived Carlisle Park’s attack, very slowly adding runs in the weather.
Imbulagoda was the third bat to fall though, contributing 37 off a patient 72 deliveries.
Imbulagoda’s wicket was Aaron Straughair’s third catch of the day, delivered by pace bowler Adam Hassan.
At 3/74, the game was still in the balance, with neither side having their nose in front.
Smith then started to get a hold of the match, putting away poor balls from the Vikings and safely dealing with dangerous deliveries.
He cruised past 50, and Officer’s total climbed with him.
Smith and Will Carlyle formed a 56-run stand, shifting the course of the innings.
Hassan fired back, pitching a nice ball to Carlyle, landing in the hands of Jarrod Armitage off the bat.
Skipper Cooper Pursell provided a very nice cameo to back up Smith, notching 37 off 73 before being the fifth man back to the sheds, courtesy of Ethan Davies.
Sitting at 5/208, Nick McLennan understood the task at hand.
Allowing Smith to stay on strike, he facilitated his teammate to help him bring up his first ton of the season.
Smith and McLennan guided Officer all the way through to the end of 80 overs, with Smith finishing with a tremendous 113 not out after 192 deliveries.
Carlisle Park will look to chase 5/255 when play resumes on day two.
“The conditions were pretty tough, but for what they were and batting the 80 overs, I thought we did really well,” captain Pursell said.
“We’ve said all year we’ve got to find a way to bat all 80 overs and not lose wickets in clumps.
“If you bat 80 overs, more often than not you’re going to put a decent score on the board.”
Smith’s innings provided the boost the Bullants needed, staying in for the entire course.
Patiently batting with only 10 boundaries, all of which were fours, was the key to posting his ton.
“He batted perfectly,” Pursell said of Smith.
“He got himself in early, assessed the situation and capitalised at the end with a great hundred.”
But it wasn’t just Smith; a deep batting performance from Officer in back-to-back matches has allowed them to be a big threat.
This includes the 10/11 wicket partnership of Noah Parraga and Dan Irvine last week, and then the contributors in round 13.
“We’re a pretty deep batting line-up, we’re all a bit different,” Pursell said.
“On our day, we’ll bat smartly, get each other in and we can put a good score on the board.
“We have just got to bat together as one, and we’ve got pretty good depth.”
Another century over at Nar Nar Goon guided the Marygoons to a convincing score of 3/243.
The massive innings of 124 was scored by Liam Hill off an impressive 115 balls, smashing eight fours and five sixes in the process.
The hosts declared after batting 52 overs, forcing Lang Lang to the crease for the final 10 overs of the day.
In those overs, the Tigers lost 1/8 before settling for stumps.
In a crucial showdown at Lawson Poole Reserve, Pakenham Upper Toomuc will look to chase 205 on day two, being 1/18 overnight.
Openers Rajeev Dhankar and Mohit Mandora nearly brought 50 on the board for the Rebels before Dhankar was trapped in front by Ryan Yeates.
Yeates was massive for the Yabbies, producing a wonderful spell of 5/26.
Karanbir Tiwana provided an excellent knock batting at number four for the Rebels, scoring a slow 71 off 122.
Amit Singh added a handy 34 at the very bottom of the order, before the on-fire Yeates took the 10th and final wicket.
The visitors looked well on their way to survive and see the day out unscathed before Cranbourne Meadows struck.
On the last ball of the second last over before stumps, Alex Prendergast was caught in front by skipper Amreek Mann.
The result of this matchup is crucial to ladder positioning and who hosts a home final.
It is likely that these teams will face again in the first round of finals; the question being which team will host.
A win for the Yabbies puts them firmly in control of their own destiny, as they visit sixth-place Nar Nar Goon next week while Cranbourne Meadows has the bye.
While it desperately awaits Carlisle Park’s result, Emerald has the bye in round 13.
