By David Nagel
Carlisle Park will look to claim its biggest scalp since dropping to CCCA District Division this season when the Vikings host Pakenham Upper/Toomuc on Saturday.
The Vikings have worked their way to fourth position on the ladder, courtesy of wins over NNG/Maryknoll, Emerald and Melbourne Sixers – three teams that currently sit outside the top four.
Last week they looked certainties of gaining outright points over the Sixers, before the weather gods intervened and denied them the chance of banking maximum points.
But co-captains Kasun Balasuriya and Rob Fuller will still be happy campers, with first-innings points on day one giving them a healthy nudge along in the race to make finals.
Only this week’s opponent – Pakky Upper – also gained first-innings points in round six.
Balasuriya leads the way for the Vikings with the willow, being the only player in his team to edge past the 200-run barrier (204) this season.
A large portion of those runs came in his stunning 119 not out against Emerald in round five; with 33 his top score outside of that century.
Adam Hassan has also been a ‘one-hit wonder’ for the Vikings, with 94 of his 102 runs also coming against the Bombers.
The Vikings most consistent player has been Ethan Davies, who just needs to build a substantial innings to capitalise on a plethora of great starts.
His scores of 31, 35, 46, 29 and 33 have been a reliable platform for the Vikings, but the thought of lifting his bat for a half-century must be forefront of mind.
Jaan Balasuriya has been the standout with the ball, taking 16 wickets to sit second on the competition bowling list.
Adam Hollingworth took five wickets for the Vikings last round and will take on the Yabbies with a high-degree of confidence.
Speaking of confidence, the Yabbies will go into this one on an absolute high after a thumping performance against Lang Lang.
The Yabbies steamrolled the Swamp Tigers for 134, with Ben McLeod (5/43) running rampant, before smashing 5/323 from just 41 overs in reply.
Syed Akbar (101) made his stunning century in just 12 overs in the middle, while Danuka Bandaralage (90) and Prabath Kobbekaduwa (52) also raised their bats in triumph.
The big challenge for the Yabbies will be putting that behind them and starting again; with things highly-unlikely to continue at eight runs per over!
Skipper Brian Kulasena, Nick Kyval, John Langley and Pramod Rathnayake have made double figures in every visit to the middle this season, and that’s the challenge confronting the Vikings’ bowling attack on the weekend.
And their batters will need to be careful as well, with Raja Sadiq (19 wickets) and McLeod (14) one of the best new-ball bowling attacks in the District Division.
This one should be a beauty, but we’ll go for the Vikings to get the job done.
Another key contest this week takes place at Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll, when the fifth-placed Marygoons host second-placed Cranbourne Meadows.
These are two teams that would have been happier than most with the weekend’s wet weather, with both heading into day two as underdogs.
The Marygoons would have needed to have batted well to have hauled in Emerald’s (240) rock-solid total from day one, while the Rebels were simply no chance of defeating Officer (9/444).
Both captains would have been more than happy to bank the six points and move on.
The Marygoons have only had one win this season, against cellar-dwellers Melbourne Sixers, but have shown enough in their three losses to be confident heading into this one.
Troy Ferguson, Bijith Balakrishnan and skipper James Markland have all made stylish half centuries, while Niluka Gamage and Gayan De Silva have been constant threats with the ball.
The Rebels haven’t put a foot wrong at this stage, with three wins, two draws, and a tie against Emerald, their output from their six outings.
Mandhiraj Singh, Tanvir Singh, Agyapal Sidhu, Karanbir Tiwana and Jass Dhaliwal have all made decent contributions with the bat this year, but the Rebels do lack strike power with the ball.
We’ll bank on the Rebels batting power to be slightly superior and guide them to remaining undefeated.
Emerald will look to taste ‘proper’ victory for the first time this season when the Bombers make the lengthy trip to Lang Lang to take on the Swamp Tigers.
The Bombers had a thrilling tie with Cranbourne Meadows in round two and received a ‘forfeit’ win over Melbourne Sixers a week later.
Those results have been enough to keep the Bombers in finals contention; but a win against the Swampies is a must.
Michael Nell has been a shining light for the Bombers this year, with scores of 97, 77 not out and 43 contributing greatly to his 233 runs for the season.
Michael Hoban has also made his presence felt, while skipper Owen Thorne is slowly building into form.
Thorne had a horror start to his campaign (3 and 0), but recent scores of 54 and 30 would indicate he is starting to see the ball well.
Remarkably, the Bombers have only bowled on three occasions this season so their bowling strength is still relatively unknown.
Lang Lang batters like Oshadha Ariyadasa and Theekshana Hettiarachchi will be keen to capitalise on that glaring statistic.
Look for Thorne to make a big one and the Bombers to finally break-through for a ‘proper’ victory.
And the last game of round seven could get very messy indeed, with runaway ladder leaders Officer to host bottom-placed Melbourne Sixers.
The Bullants are playing some brilliant cricket at the moment, with key bats Chathura Imbulagoda, Jaswinder Gill and Ash Smith in rare touch; but skipper Cooper Pursell might not get to see too much of his batting stars over the next fortnight.
Pursell would surely bowl first if he wins the toss, with the Sixers’ batting list just not cutting the standard required for the level.
It’s scary to think what Pursell, Devon Gabriel-Brown and Dan Irvine might do the Sixers list with a shiny red new ball; with the Bullants likely to be batting by the tea break.
The Bullants are focusing hard on not turning up and being complacent against inferior opposition this season; but this game will test the ‘modesty’ levels to the extreme.
They’re a class above the Sixers are the Bullants, and they’ll win this one in a canter.
TIPS: NNG/Maryknoll (5) v CRANBOURNE MEADOWS (2), Lang Lang (7) v EMERALD (6), OFFICER (1) v Melbourne Sixers (8), CARLISLE PARK (4) v Pak. Upper/Toomuc (3).
