By Marcus Uhe
Casey South Melbourne’s push for a top four position on the Victorian Premier Cricket ladder remains alive after another brilliant bowling performance from Ruwantha Kellapotha.
The legpsinner claimed his second five-wicket haul for the summer, taking 5/66 against St Kilda as the Swans kept the home side to 234 on day one.
Luke Shelton won the toss and chose to bowl with the Saints missing a trio of key batters selected for Victoria’s Sheffield Shield contest against Tasmania, in former Australian Test players Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb, and emerging star Harry Dixon.
The Swans pounced on the insecurity at the top of the order with Nathan Lambden and Harry Hoekstra combining for three wickets in the opening three overs to reduce the Saints to 3/5.
St Kilda steadied to reach 3/129 but the Swans struck twice on 129, through Hoekstra and Kellapotha, to remove captain, Ed Newman, and dominant batter Blake Macdonald, forcing the middle order to regroup and start again from scratch.
The wicket of Macdonald set the wheels in motion for Kellapotha, who took the next four to claim the match ball at the conclusion of play.
He now has 34 wickets for the year and a comfortable gap over Nathan Lambden for second on the list, with 30.
After bowling 31 overs last Saturday against Northcote, Kellapotha sat out of Berwick’s semi-final in the Dandenong District Cricket Association T20 competition against Hallam Kalora Park the following day, owing to fatigue and soreness.
He dusted off those concerns to send down another 31 for his side on Saturday, however, including six maidens, to help the Swans to a positive position ahead of next week’s second day.
The Swans survived four overs before stumps unscathed, with Ashley Chandrasinghe and Matthew Calder to resume at 0/16 next week.
Casey South Melbourne needs both Dandenong and Camberwell to lose their contests next week, along with secure the points in its own contest against St Kilda, to climb into fourth place before a final round showdown with Carlton.
Camberwell needs to defend 297 while Dandenong has a big challenge on its hands, set 327 to win against third-placed Richmond at Shepley Oval.
