By Marcus Uhe
Fountain Gate marked the long-awaited return of cricket to Max Pawsey Reserve by returning to the top of the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 3 competition’s ladder.
The Gators fell two wickets shy of securing the 10 points gained through an outright victory but earned a major boost to its percentage in the 81-run win over Narre North.
Contributions from John Mirranay, Antony Pradeep, Amadeep Hothi and captain Karan Singh provided 142 of the Gators’ 196 first innings runs, with Singh (54) reaching his third half-century of the summer, and second in three rounds.
Sikhie Samarasekera led the bowling effort for Narre North, taking 4/24, with teenager Dinesh Peris taking 2/25 on senior debut.
Narre North lost Samarasekera in the second over for one and his side was plagued by consistent wickets throughout the innings.
Thanigaivasan Ratnalingam and Aydin Akin’s 37-run partnership steadied proceedings in the middle overs but the pair were the only batters to pass 10.
Narre North lasted 55 overs, dismissed on 115.
Fountain Gate unearthed a new bowling option, with Shirwali Sadeqi taking 3/22 with the new ball in his first Turf 3 contest of the summer.
Returning coach Ray Pal also took 3/29.
Fountain Gate bowled a second time at Narre North, taking 8/57 before play was stopped.
After a wicketless first innings, Asadullah Jabbar Khil made up for lost time with the first four wickets in the second to get the ball rolling for the Gators.
Three for Sadeqi, including two in consecutive deliveries, and a run out from Mirranay, took the Gators to the brink of a vital 10 points, but the percentage boost, and the result of Keysborough’s contest with Silverton, was enough for Fountain Gate to assume top spot on the table.
Connell stood tall for Fountain Gate with an unbeaten 15 from 73 deliveries as the primary thorn in their side.
Keysborough defended 220 against Silverton in a pivotal win for its top two hopes, as the Bakers fell from first to third.
The Knights weathered a five-wicket haul from Kalapu Gamage to post 220, thanks to three players falling just shy of half-centuries.
Abhinay Motupalli reached 49, Chanaka Kahandawala made 42 and Tobey Harkin made 48.
Gamage did the bulk of his damage in the 23rd over, when he struck four times to swing the momentum of the contest.
He removed the set batters in Kahandawala and Christo Otto in the first half of the over and finished with Hennadige Fernando and Dante Happawana in consecutive balls.
2/90 became 6/91, forcing Keysborough’s remaining batters to dig in for the long haul.
Harkin’s 48 after the dramatic over, and Motupalli’s 49, both came during extended periods at the crease in the aftermath of the collapse as they looked to rebuild the innings.
Keysborough was eventually dismissed in the 74th over, with Gamage taking 5/51.
Knights opener James Wright dismissed Anmol Zakhmi, Gamage and Harsha Dampahalage early in the chase but the Knights’ middle order was proving hard to dislodge.
Otto took the big scalps of Simranjit Singh for a quick 45 and his opposite number Rob North for 14, either side of Rohit Sandhu’s departure for 38, before Kahandawala matched Gamage’s figures with a five-wicket haul of his own.
He claimed the final four wickets of the chase, ending the pursuit in the 77th over at 210.
Varinder Verk’s 52 was the only half-century for the match, but it wasn’t enough for Silverton to pick up six points.
The result is the second win for Keysborough over the Bakers, who shape as potential finals opponents in the chase for a premiership.
The race for fourth place, meanwhile, has opened up once more on the back of another poor loss for Berwick Springs.
The Titans’ up and down fortunes took another down swing in round 12, losing by 80 runs to Lynbrook.
The Lakers successfully defended 9/223 at home, dismissing the Titans for 143.
Berwick Springs had the home side on the ropes at 8/167 but did not account for the resilience of Stephen Veal and Jesse Walia.
The number nine and 10 pair made vital scores in the 20s and added 56 runs for the ninth wicket to push the home side beyond 200.
Jatinder Singh’s 53 earlier in the innings finished as the side’s highest score, his first 50 in Turf 3 since round four.
Harry Fernando took 3/39 for Berwick Springs with last week’s hero Harman Sahota and Ethan Marinic taking two wickets apiece.
The Titans made a poor start to the pursuit with Hillman brothers Braydon (zero) and Riley (two) dismissed early in the piece.
With Jackson Marie only adding 13, the pressure was on the Titans’ middle order to patch up their faults.
Radomir Badzoka and Archit Vora did their best, with 49 and 24 respectively, but their efforts were curtailed by Singh.
Singh removed that pair and three others in a brilliant spell to finish with 5/37 in what is the Lakers’ best win for the summer.
Berwick Springs, meanwhile, falls behind Hampton Park to fifth position.
Hampton Park became the latest team to defeat Doveton outright, after dismissing the Doves for 75 and 112 in their two innings.
Both Fazir Fathhar and Raneel Khaleel took eight wickets each for Hampton Park across the two innings.
Hampton Park hosts Berwick Springs this week in a contest that will likely decide who finishes fourth.
The same applies for Keysborough and Fountain Gate, with the winner to take top spot into the final round of competition.
Keysborough and Berwick Springs won the corresponding contests in round six.
