A magnificent century from Pakenham’s Glenn Perera and stunning six-wicket haul from Pakenham Upper/Toomuc’s Bailey Smith were the prominent features of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) lower grade fixtures on Saturday.
Consistent rain saw only 13 of the 23 scheduled matches begin in earnest; with the C Grade component of the CCCA providing most of the entertainment.
Smith has been in sensational form this season, and it continued with a haul of 6/53 on the weekend as he looked to once again counterbalance a poor batting display from his Yabbies in their game against Clyde.
After winning the toss and batting the Yabbies were rolled for just 78 in their first innings, with Will Sharlott (20), Dhylan Horsburgh (17) and Vishal Vishal (10) the only players to make it to double figures.
The Yabbies did themselves no favours, with three batters giving away their wickets via run outs.
Smith then went to work, taking his six wickets from 15 dangerous overs that included three tidy maidens.
The 24-year-old left-hander has had an incredible season for the Yabbies, having now taken 27 wickets at the remarkable average of 8.89; talking a wicket every 16.67 balls.
He has taken 21 wickets from his last four outings, with a best-of-the-season 7/31 in round five.
Only one Clyde (7/109) batter could handle the angle and bounce of Smith with number-three Josh Spittal (74) guiding his team to victory.
Spittal faced just 79 balls, with eight thumping boundaries and a massive six to boot.
Clyde leads by 31 runs with three wickets in hand heading into day two; but all eyes will be on Smith to see if he can turn that six-wicket haul into a nine-fa.
Pakenham (7/309) number-three Perera (135) was in magnificent touch against Melbourne Sixers at Inez Hunter Reserve; cracking 11 boundaries as the Lions edged their way past the 300-run barrier.
Perera and opener Yuvraj Singh (63) shared a mammoth partnership for the second wicket after Anthony Ponweera (2) went early.
David Auld (27) and skipper Zac Downes (12 not out) provided some late runs to give the Lions day-one bragging rights.
And there were highlights aplenty for Kerala Strikers (7282d), who gave Kooweerup (64) a thumping at Ramlegh Reserve.
The Demons won the toss and batted with only Lachlan Wasley (22) and Jaxen Wood (14) making any impression in the top order at all.
Akhil Thomas (4/31) and Villy Vincent (3/26) did most of the damage for the Strikers, who then went bang, bang…and bang, in reply.
Kumar Unnikrishnan (44) provided stability at the top of the order before Renjith Raj (69 not out) and Jerin Joy (60) toyed with the Demons in the post-tea session.
Harley Monckton (3/13) took three wickets for the Demons, who will have to dig deeper than deep to avoid outright defeat on day two.
The game between Upper Beaconsfield and Carlisle Park will revert to a one-dayer this week after no play was possible at Upper Beaconsfield.
B GRADE
Fourth-placed Tooradin (6/265) is in the box seat to topple third-placed Merinda Park after a strong team effort at Barton Reserve.
The Seagulls lost experienced opener Peter Stone (3) early, and skipper Jono Sherer (2) failed in the middle order, but all other bats had an impact.
Michael Ralph (61), Robert Simpson (36) and Ben Mantel (30) took care of business at the top, before Dave Freeman (34), James Gillam (61 not out) and Tim Huguenin (15 not out) guided the home side through a rock-solid 70 overs at the crease.
Inswinger Brenton Huyskens (2/43) was the pick of the Cobras’ bowlers; with five maidens included in his 17-over sojourn.
Some late hitting from an unknown source has guided Emerald (200) to a competitive score against Devon Meadows at Booring Reserve.
Mark Alenson (31) batted patiently for the Bombers early – before coming from the field retired hurt – before John Hughes (49) controlled proceedings through the mid-to-lower order.
But the Bombers were in all sorts of trouble as the Panthers’ attack of Jason Poole (4/40), Murphy Hancox (2/13) and David Fisher (2/45) made consistent breakthroughs.
The Panthers looked set for an early afternoon in the field before an unnamed Fill-In at number 11 smashed 62 not out from just 63 balls.
Alenson returned to the crease for the last-wicket stand, which has given the bombers renewed hope as they settle in for day two.
And the game between Lang Lang (4/134) and Officer looks evenly poised after a rain-reduced 43 overs of play at Lang Lang.
Brad Savige (67 not out) and skipper Damien Quinlan (19 not out) are well positioned to dictate terms for the Swampies, while Kevin Baldsing (2/43) will have a significant say for the Bullants’ bowling brigade.
Nar Nar Goon and Pakenham Upper/Toomuc will march onto the main oval at Nar Nar Goon this week for a one-day fixture after no play was seen on Saturday.
D GRADE
It was a very quiet day in D Grade on Saturday with the game between Merinda Park and Officer (165) at Lochaven Reserve the only fixture to have stumps plugged into the ground.
The key battles took place between prominent figures from both clubs, with Brent Pullen (39), Matt Lucas (37), Sohaib Khan (21) and Emmanuel Megee (19) trying hard to resist the patient efforts of Cobras’ bowlers Adrian Slater (5/36) and Kirti Sharma (2/89).
Sharma was resilient if nothing else, bowling 32 overs for the day, while Slater gave the Cobras the upper hand with a strong finish to the late-afternoon session.
Merinda Park took the last eight wickets in the final 22 overs of the day; earning a slight edge heading into the all-important day-two action.
The following games will be played as one-dayers: Cardinia Bulls v Kerala Strikers. Nar Nar Goon v Pak. Upper/Toomuc. Pakenham v Devon Meadows.
E GRADE WEST
The battle between first and third on the ladder is living up to expectations after Clyde (232) produced a competitive batting display against third-placed Tooradin at Clyde.
Gulls’ skipper Shaun Tongue sent the Cougars in to bat, and the gamble paid off early after Luke Spain (3/49) made the initial breakthrough.
The Cougars then had steadying partnerships throughout the day, with Ben Cooper (52) guiding the top order through danger, before Mark Zoldak (40) played a captain’s knock through the middle overs.
But the persistence of Jeremy Bodley (3/24) and Blake Tongue (2/29) had the Gulls well on top, with Clyde 9/168 after 45 overs.
A fighting last-wicket partnership of 64 – off 25 overs – from Armaan Sharma (34 not out) and Beau Cooper (15) appears to have provided the Cougars with a slight advantage heading into the last 70 overs of play.
The Gulls’ 37 extras could be costly; consisting of 26 wides, four no balls and seven byes.
And the game between fourth-placed Carlisle Park (9/215) and second-placed Devon Meadows is also set to be a beauty after the Vikings batted out their full 70 overs at the Hunt Club.
This was a war of attrition all day, with the experience and guile of Mick Floyd (3/65 off 25) proving hard to conquer for the Vikings.
Floyd had absorbing battles with Andrew Myers (31), Alok Chaudhri (47) and Mike Chapman (45), who faced 74, 135 and 121 balls respectively.
Shane Simpson (4/32) cashed in late for the Panthers, taking quick wickets as the run-rate needed to be lifted.
Greg Benoit (27 not out) was important for the Vikings, while Sourav Paul (2/15) took two important ones for the Panthers.
The remaining game between Officer and Merinda Park will begin this week under one-day conditions.
E GRADE EAST
A well-balanced bowling performance has Pakenham (1/27) nicely placed in the only game played against Kerala Strikers (155) at Ramlegh Reserve.
Plenty of the Strikers got starts, with Jaise Abraham (27), Aryan Gill (25), Jonathan Sunil (22) and Aayush Parikh (21) all threatening big scores…but the Lions bowling quartet had all the answers.
Not for the first time in his career Gary Sewell (4/33) led the way for Pakenham, while Sanab Furqan (3/39), Hirenkumar Joshi (2/58) and Joshua Stingell (1/20) all played solid supporting roles.
The Lions need a further 129 runs, with nine wickets in hand, to take the points on day two.
Clyde Gold v Officer and Emerald v Avengers will be played as one-dayers this Saturday.
ONE DAY
Carlisle Park and Emerald were the big winners on a heavily interrupted day for the CCCA One-Day competition.
A stylish half century from Robert Gittens (61 not out) led Carlisle Park (2/119) to an easy run-chase victory over Upper Beaconsfield (9/111), while Emerald (2/121) hardly raised a sweat in its big win over Lang Lang (7/120).
Hash Dayananda (73) stood out like a sore thumb for the Swamp Tigers, belting nine fours and three sixes, in a virtuoso display.
No other Lang Lang player made more than seven runs as Warwick Marsh (3/20) and Gurshant Sekhon (2/23) took multiple wickets for the Bombers.
Emerald then made light of its chase with Lakhvir Sekhon (38 not out) and Brett Maddock (32 not out) finishing off the job after Ryan Appleby (35) had laid the platform.
There were no results in the other three games with Melbourne Sixers and Clyde Green splitting the points, along with Pak. Upper/Toomuc and Merinda Park and Kooweerup and Avengers.
