By Jonty Ralphsmith
An unbeaten 95 from Amith Eranda was enough for Emerald to chase down Devon Meadows’ 9/191 with 10 balls to spare in CCCA District Division.
Devon Meadows shared the runs around and didn’t allow any Emerald bowlers to pin them down as all but three batters reached double figures.
Chris Cleef and Ben Hussey each scored 30, being dismissed just as Devon Meadows appeared to get on top, which proved the story of the day for the visitors, keeping Emerald in it.
Two early wickets had Devon Meadows right on top, before a 112-run partnership between skipper Jordan Robinson and Eranda kept Emerald on target.
Robinson was dismissed shortly after passing 50 with the target still almost 60 runs away, but the middle order was staunch enough to stick around with Eranda who timed the chase to perfection.
A century to Imesh Jayesekara guided Upper Beaconsfield to a swashbuckling 103-run victory over Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll.
The hosts went at almost seven an over after choosing to bat first with opener Chad McDonald another that went at a fast rate during his innings of 69, which contained three maximums.
Upper Beaconsfield never looked particularly troubled and had the ascendancy throughout the bowling innings, despite an 84-run partnership between James Markland and Mansoor Ahmed to open up.
McDonald and Daniel Brennan immediately upped the rate, bowling with discipline.
Once William Haines and Scott Haines claimed the openers, NNG/Maryknoll lost 7/42 as the middle and lower order struggle to bat out the 40 overs.
It was a right old shellacking for Gembrook against Lang Lang as the hosts had no answers for the Swamp Tigers’ rapid run-rate.
Just one Lang Lang batter went at a strike rate of less than 100, Shamil Samarsinghe, whose 69 off 85 was brisk itself, but also important in providing foil and stability for his enterprising partners.
Dale Cranston got 78 off 70 opening up, Oshadha Ariyadasa smashed 12 boundaries in his 88 off 50 and Theekshana Hettiarachchi finished it off with 38 off 30.
None of the Brookers’ bowlers were able to ask questions of Lang Lang, which reached 3/300, and the dominance carried over to the bowling innings.
Gembrook managed just 97 off 30 overs, the bowlers sharing the wickets around, led by Cranston’s 3/17 off six.
Meanwhile, Cranbourne Meadows proved 13 runs too strong for Pakenham Upper Toomuc, thanks to some late-order hitting from Jass Dhaliwal.
Promoted back to the First XI after a century last week, Dhaliwal carried on his fine form, smashing eight boundaries in a blistering 75 which guided his team from 5/63, when he arrived at the crease, to a total of 7/189.
For Pakenham Upper Toomuc, it was Ben McLeod that inflicted much of the early damage to have Cranbourne Meadows on the ropes, finishing with 5/33 off his eight overs.
James Stevenage saw off a tight opening spell from Pargat Singh before passing 50, but his dismissal spelt trouble for the hosts as his teammates found it tough going with the blade.
Lower-order players Matthew Zisos and McLeod finished unbeaten on 26 and 23 respectively but were ultimately left too much to do as Dhaliwal backed up his outing with the bat with three wickets.
