By David Nagel
It was legendary LA Dodgers baseball manager Leo Durocher who famously said in 1948 that “nice guys finish last”.
Obviously, Durocher has never met Officer (3/137) captain Cooper Pursell who took the best bowling figures (4/19) in CCCA District Division on Saturday to lead his top-of-the-table Bullants to first-innings points against bottom-placed Melbourne Sixers (107).
The Sixers at least showed the commitment to occupy the crease at Rob Porter Reserve after Pursell won the toss and sent them into bat.
The expected carnage looked likely to materialise early on before Udesh Perera (31) and skipper Gayan Ekanayake (29) dug deep to repel the most dangerous attack in District.
Pursell, Noah Parraga (2/22) and Devon Gabriel-Brown (2/31) had regular success throughout the day, but the battling Sixers did well to finally succumb in the 57th over of the contest.
Despite the improved fight, the Sixers are still odds-on to lose outright after Ash Smith (50 not out), Chathura Imbulagoda (38) and Kade Perkins (28 not out) built a 30-run lead after just 17 overs at the crease.
The game between fourth and third on the ladder – Carlisle Park (192) and Pakenham Upper/Toomuc (3/40) – hangs in the balance after a hard-fought opening day at Carlisle Park.
Vikings’ captain Kasun Balasuriya (80) was the stand out player in the top-seven as the Yabbies’ strike force of Ben McLeod (4/42) and Raja Sadiq (2/52) lived up to their recent form.
The Yabbies looked to have cracked the Vikings resistance after tea, but vital late runs to the experienced Brendan McCarthy (39) and number-10 Adam Hollingworth (29 not out) gave the home side some momentum heading into the last nine overs of play.
Jaan Balasuriya (2/5) struck twice in the first over for the Vikings, and Hollingworth grabbed the late wicket of the dangerous Danuka Bandaralage (36 off 24 balls) to square things up by stumps.
Lower-order runs and a late wicket have also helped Emerald (216) to a strong position against Lang Lang (1/2) at Lang Lang.
Five of the Bombers’ top-six got starts, but Michael Nell (18), Owen Thorne (29), Jack Raukola (26), Ethan Crosher (21) and Michael Hoban (37) all had promising afternoons ruined by either Will Wykes (4/57), Damien Quinlan (3/26) or Alex Giacco (3/61).
It was left to Sam Booth (33), Andrew Kapahnke (11 not out) and wily veteran Clinton Marsh (10) to tip the Bombers beyond the 200 mark.
Raukola (1/1) then made the one-hour drive home all the more enjoyable by removing Keith Halden for a blob.
And second-placed Cranbourne Meadows will enter day-two as warm favourites against NNG/Maryknoll (121) after Rajeev Dhankar (3/47), Sandhu Singh (2/16) and Pargat Singh (2/23) proved too hot for the Marygoons to handle at Spencer Street.
Only a fighting knock from Russell Perry (48 off 158 balls) and lower-order contributions from Luke Merrett (19) and Noah Hall (14) saw the Marygoons reach triple figures.
CCCA DISTRICT – TOP 10
BATTING: Chathura Imbulagoda (Officer 423), Kasun Balasuriya (Carlisle Park 284), Michael Nell (Emerald 251), Oshadha Ariyadasa (Lang Lang 251), Jaswinder Gill (Officer 213), Syed Akbar (PUT 202), Ethan Davies (Carlisle Park 179), Bimsara Kalhara (Melbourne Sixers 179), Michael Hoban (Emerald 178), Danuka Bandaralage (PUT 177).
BOWLING: Raja Sadiq (PUT 21), Jaan Balasuriya (Carlisle Park 18), Ben McLeod (PUT 18), Devon Gabriel-Brown (Officer 15), Niluka Gamage (NNG/Maryknoll 14), Cooper Pursell (Officer 13), Gayan De Silva (NNG/Maryknoll 12), Pargat Singh (Cranbourne Meadows 11), Adam Hollingworth (Carlisle Park 10), Mandhiraj Singh (Cranbourne Meadows 9), Rajeev Dhankar (Cranbourne Meadows 9), Theekshana Hettiarachchi (Lang Lang 9)
