By Marcus Uhe
Time is running out fast for Berwick Springs to discover its best cricket in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 3 competition this summer.
The Titans, last season’s runner up side, could enter the Christmas break with a negative win-loss ratio, on the verge of their fourth loss of the summer against Silverton after day one at home.
The Titans are on the worse side of the match equation, with Silverton only requiring a further 34 runs to reach the target of 133, with five wickets in hand.
Three ducks in Berwick Springs’ top seven, including from the returning Jackson Marie and in-form Shalika Karunanayake, ate away at the Titans’ top order with no batter passing 50.
Riley Hillman (35) and Lachlan Marie (40) were the most profitable scorers at the top of the batting card but the remainder of the side could only offer 62 runs between them.
Meanwhile, the absence of Archit Vora, who has 167 runs in his last two innings, was a gaping hole in the middle order that was not filled.
Dylan Hayes’ excellent summer with the ball continued for Silverton, taking 5/35 to move to 19 wickets for the season.
Kenneth Smart and Berwick Springs offered a fightback in the second innings but still face a major disadvantage heading into day two this week.
Smart took 3/25 including the key figure of Rob North at number three without scoring to ensure the Bakers would be forced to rise to the occasion.
Silverton resumes next week at 5/99.
Opener Varinder Virk remains the key wicket, unbeaten on 40.
Keysborough joins Silverton in the likely winners circle, having mounted a brilliant revival against Lynbrook.
The Knights need only three further wickets to extend its winning streak to six matches, with Lynbrook barely hanging on at 7/95, 77 runs short of the 172-run target.
James Wright led the comeback for Keysborough, swinging the match back into his side’s favour in the midst of a marathon 15-over opening spell that netted a third-consecutive five-wicket haul.
He ripped the Lakers’ middle order to pieces with four wickets in three consecutive overs, as 1/31 became 5/36 in 33 deliveries of carnage that concluded with the huge wicket of Jatinder Singh for a first ball duck.
Joining Singh on Wright’s victim list was Kaine Bundy (22), James Kellett (five) and Jay Walia (two), giving the veteran the wickets of his opponents’ top three run scorers for the summer.
The wicket of Devanandh Chandrasekar later in his spell gave him his fifth, making it 11 wickets in his last two matches, and 19 in his last three bowling innings.
Lynbrook’s hopes remain with Anubhav Chopra and Media Dala, who reached stumps together in the midst of a 35-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
Earlier in the afternoon, Lynbrook teenager Yashwant Singh and Jatinder Singh combined to cut the Knights down to size.
Jatinder Singh took two wickets in the first five overs of play, removing Abhinay Motupalli and Jonathan Mohamed for ducks, while Yashwant Singh grabbed 5/37, as Keysborough fought its way to 172.
Not fazed by the success of the Jatinder Singh’s exploits at the top of Keysborough’s batting card, however, was the explosive Chanaka Kahandawala.
Fresh from his blistering 133 off 88 balls last week against Berwick Springs, he continued where he left off with a boundary-heavy 72 from 60, ensuring the bowlers did have the contest completely on their terms.
Captain, Christo Otto, played the foil for his dynamic opener, whose innings came to an end in the 25th over, having laid a platform for the remainder of his teammates by flying along at five runs per over during his time at the crease.
Otto made 43 and was the last man out as partners came and went around him, the innings concluding in the 43rd over.
Singh’s five-wicket haul was his first at senior level, having held his own in the Lakers’ first XI despite his age.
He took 4/39 against Berwick Springs and 4/14 last week against Silverton, in a testament to the legspinner’s consistency.
Silverton and Keysborough both need wins to keep pace with Fountain Gate, joining them as the only sides with outright wins this summer after steamrolling Doveton on day one last week.
