By Justin Schwarze
With play resuming on the second day of Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) District Competition’s round four, there were many storylines to follow, including Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll getting their first win on the board by comfortably putting away Melbourne Sixers.
Following last week’s drama and bizarre circumstances, notably with two Sixers batsmen timing out, the Marygoons put themselves well and truly in control of the match with their stellar bowling.
James Markland and Liam Hill took to the crease at the beginning of day two, requiring just 28 runs to walk away victors.
The pair got comfortable without giving away their wicket and guided the visitors home to claim a season first victory in dominant fashion, blowing the Sixers away by 10 wickets.
The win places Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll inside the top four after four matches, and leaves Melbourne Sixers winless on the bottom of the table.
Elsewhere, Officer rode a massive first innings to crush Lang Lang.
The Tigers had four wickets in hand when they took to the crease on day two, but scored just 23 runs in the previous day of play.
After taking four wickets on day one, Devon Gabriel-Brown picked up right where he left off, finishing with 7/16 and running out Dylan Halden.
With the outright result within Officer’s reach, Lang Lang was sent into bat again.
For the second time around, the visitors only had eight available batsmen due to injuries, so Officer could smell blood.
Opener Shehan Dharmarathna was dismissed before Lang Lang even registered a run, and once again the culprit was Gabriel-Brown.
Gabriel-Brown still wasn’t done, taking a further three, bringing his total to 11 for the match, a brilliant display of bowling.
Kuldeep Sidhu bowled 2/18 and no Tiger batsmen reached a tally higher than 29.
After 27 overs, the visitors were all out (eight wickets) for 113, giving Officer the outright victory they were searching for.
“It’s not just one person doing it, it was a whole team performance,” fast-bowler and captain Cooper Pursell said.
“All of our bowlers have been bowling really well, creating pressure, (bowling) dot balls and being able to hold our chances and take wickets.”
From the outside looking in before the game, Officer and Lang Lang read first versus second on the ladder and looked to be a matchup of two potential premiership contenders, but it was the Bullants remaining undefeated and sending a huge message to the league.
“We take it one week at a time,” Pursell said.
“It was a massive statement to the rest.”
At Chandler Oval, Emerald couldn’t shake their low scoring problems, with Pakenham Upper Toomuc proving too strong.
The Bombers posted 129 the first time with the bat, but Michael Nell, Sam Booth and Jordan Robinson combined for 108 of those runs, and the rest of the order contributed just 21.
The Yabbies were three down overnight, but batted well on the second day to reach 8/253.
As they were near declaring, Brian Kulasena was closing in on a half-ton.
However, he was caught off the bowling of Lawson Cocks on 49, leaving the visiting side 9/253.
The declaration came from Pakenham Upper Toomuc and Emerald was forced to bat out the rest of the match.
The day’s play concluded with Michael Nell notching 77 not out but the Yabbies left Chandler Oval as winners.
In the other matchup, Carlisle Park’s surprising struggles continued as they fell to Cranbourne Meadows.
After being four down at stumps, the Vikings middle order collapsed and could only manage a score of 72.
The visiting side were ordered to bat again, and they finished the day by posting 6/160, with opener Ethan Davies bringing up 46.
The win sees Cranbourne Meadows leap into the top two, but also sees Carlisle Park plummet to sixth.
The two day matches continue in round five, as Emerald travels to Carlisle Park, Pakenham Upper Toomuc host Melbourne Sixers, Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll are matched up with top of the table Officer and Lang Lang take on Cranbourne Meadows.
