B GRADE
Table-leaders Pakenham Upper/Toomuc have been set a monumental task by Tooradin after the Seagulls posted 267 in the first innings at Barton Reserve in round 13 of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) lower grades.
Despite Riley McLeod (0) being dismissed to have Tooradin 1/0, Peter Stone battled through to fall just short of a ton.
Stone reached 98 before being caught, but solid contributions from Robert Simpson (53) and Jono Sherer (27) helped the Seagulls push forward.
Mark Sandfort was the deadliest Yabby with the ball, taking four wickets, while Bailey Smith and Jonathan Rewell snagged two each.
Pakenham Upper/Toomuc will chase 268 on day two.
An intriguing clash between finals hopeful Merinda Park and Nar Nar Goon has the Cobras in front after a day.
The Marygoons were knocked over for just 109 after 48.1 overs, despite the best efforts of Jarratt Eastburn (44) and Shamraiz Mehdi (20 not out).
Adrian Slater (four wickets) did the heavy lifting with the ball, paving the way for Merinda Park to conclude the day 1/48 in the chase.
Lang Lang has a good shot to win its first game of the year and upset fourth-placed Emerald after the Swamp Tigers notched 9/182 in the first innings at home.
The hosts were spearheaded by Damien Quinlan (42), Hash Dayanada (28) and Max de Longville (28).
Officer is off to a fruitful start with the Bullants already in hot pursuit of Devon Meadows’ score of 131.
Ayden Neil (51 not out) and Jordan Jansz (41) scored the bulk of the Panthers’ runs, but Kevin Baldsing’s spell 5/29 from 11 overs helped the Bullants bowl out the hosts for 131.
Officer lost both of its openers in the day’s remaining 16 overs but settled at 2/51 at stumps.
C GRADE
A well-rounded team effort headlined Carlisle Park in its massive score of 349 against Pakenham Upper/Toomuc at home.
Brendan McCarthy (74), Sean Hinkley (67) and Ethan de Vries (54) were the three Vikings to raise the bat while Robert Fuller (45) came close to being the fourth.
Will Sharlott’s three wickets was the best for the Yabbies who have a gargantuan target of 350 to hunt down on day two.
Dene North (67) and Anthony Ponweera (51) powered Pakenham to 202 at Toomuc Reserve against Kerala Strikers.
Villy Vincent’s three-wicket haul allowed the Strikers to roll the Lions and his side finished the day 0/1 overnight after being forced to face a single over.
Upper Beaconsfield was restricted by Kooweerup and held to just 135 after 67 overs.
Two wickets apiece for Gerrard Gilmour, Paul West, Curtis Eddington and Bhavjot Singh marked a deep performance for the Demons.
Clyde is well established in its chase of 156 set by Melbourne Sixers.
The Sixers were knocked over, with Dilum Edirisinghe (45) top scoring, thanks to bags of three wickets from Will Round and Stuart Williams.
The Cougars rounded out the day by piling on 67 runs, losing just Steven Russell (25) while Jayson Dryden (38 not out) remains the danger man.
D GRADE
Merinda Park already has first innings points after a dominant day against Cardinia.
The Bulls opted to bat after winning the toss, a decision that became perplexing when they were rolled for just 54.
Kirti Maan Sharma and Ryan Sharma were a two-man wrecking crew as both took five-fas to combine for all 10 wickets.
Ryan Sharma’s final figures were eye-popping, taking 5/14 from 13.2 overs.
The Cobras wasted no time with the bat, reaching 8/246 in 39 overs, headlined by Thomas Hodge (68 not out), Nathan Francis (66) and Martin Jones (22) before declaring to have a crack at the outright result on day two.
Nasib Sunny’s monstrous knock of 112 carried Pakenham Upper/Toomuc to 194 in a matchup with Devon Meadows.
Sunny did brilliantly to navigate the near unplayable spell of Scott Rainey, who took 7/29 from his 16.4 overs for the Panthers.
Officer is already on the doorstep of victory at home against Nar Nar Goon.
James Quinn, Brent Pullen, Stefan De Silva and Cody Lucas all chipped in two wickets to roll the Marygoons for 82.
In the day’s remaining 16 overs, the Bullants shaved off 61 runs from the required amount, settling at 1/61 at stumps with Lucas in charge at 35 not out.
Pakenham has some work to do to stave off Kerala Strikers after Russell Little (82) was the standout Lion.
Little scored 82 of Pakenham’s 181 as three-wicket hauls from Raju Parakudiyil Kuriakose and Giss Thomas fuelled the Strikers.
Rohit Sankar (27 not out) and Joshua Sunil (28) boosted the chase as Kerala Strikers got to 2/78 at the conclusion of the day.
E GRADE WEST
The tail wagged for Merinda Park as Chris Williams (41) and Lochlan Gillespie (42) formed a 75-run partnership at the bottom of the order to help the Cobras notch 190 against Tooradin.
Stanley Freeman claimed four scalps while Damien Whitnell managed three poles for the Seagulls.
Tooradin turned around and knocked off 34 runs from the target, sitting at 1/34 at stumps.
Chris Slater and Nital Tawde formed a lethal one-two punch at Hunt Club Oval as Carlisle Park demolished Officer for just 60.
Slater (5/13 from six overs) and Tawde (5/14 from seven overs) ripped through the Bullants and combined for all ten poles.
The Vikings then made 5/141 to finish the day as Andrew Myers (41 not out) and Lokesh Baskaran (27) made their marks.
Devon Meadows is closing in on a triumphant result over Clyde with a solid performance with both bat and ball.
Firstly, Robert Worsteling’s three wickets boosted the Panthers in bowling out the Cougars for 130 before David Carson (28 not out) and Mick Floyd (23) got the hosts to 1/62 in the chase.
E GRADE EAST
Clyde is in the box seat after a ton from Glenn Tuckwell (101) and a half century from Shahzaib Umar (77) guided the Cougars to 269 against Officer.
Sean Chamberlain (five wickets) was the best of the Bullants.
Pakenham is in serious trouble in a home matchup with Emerald with the Bombers having the Lions 3/39 chasing 208.
Dale Street (44) and Dan Besley (31) held off Gary Sewell’s figures of 4/32 to post 208.
Alexander Barbour then wreaked havoc to conclude the day, snagging three wickets to push Pakenham to the brink.
Kerala Strikers recorded 164 during its time at the crease as Senuth Ashcharya Eramudugolla (40) top scored against Avengers.
Vikas Choudhary and Praveen Harapanahalli both took three breakthroughs to lead the Avengers.
Dennis George (36 not out) and Harkanwaljit Singh (35) got the chase off to a good start as Avengers sit 2/107 overnight.
ONE DAY COMP
Merinda Park legend Johnee Cuthbertson stole all the headlines again by notching his third straight century for the Cobras.
This one came off 82 deliveries and set his side up for a massive win over Lang Lang.
The Cobras also got good production from Paul Roach (48 not out) to notch 3/236 before Jason Hodrien recorded 4/19 to knock over the Swamp Tigers for 110.
Pakenham Upper/Toomuc (5/154) found winning ways over Avengers (8/150) thanks to knocks from Meet Patel (47) and Digesh Bhatt (45).
Kooweerup (269) downed Upper Beaconsfield (93) with Timothy Miller (64), Steven Hobson (59) and Rohan Scott (40) leading the charge for the Demons.
Melbourne Sixers (7/240) successfully defended its score against Emerald (151) as Jegatheeswaran Loganathan raised the bat for 67.
