By Jonty Ralphsmith
Coomoora number-11 Michael Klonaridis has made himself an unlikely hero with the bat by smashing the winning runs for his side in a thrilling one-wicket victory over Doveton North.
In the side for his dangerous medium-pace bowling, Klonaridis came to the crease in the 43rd over of the DDCA Turf 3 clash with his side still needing eight runs to win.
He laid bat on ball against brave spinner Sachith Jayasinghe to get down the other end, before keeping out a yorker from medium-pacer Gayan De Silva to support number-nine Nick Lloyd well.
Needing four to win midway through the 44th over, a late cut from Lloyd just eluded the Lions keeper, getting within a metre of the rope before fine leg cut it off.
Lloyd was unable to get a single late in the penultimate over which put the responsibility on Klonaridis with his team trailing by one.
Jayasingha and De Silva had bowled their allotted 12 overs each by the 45th, forcing skipper Rukshan Carim to turn to secondary paceman Kasun Dissanayake in the pressure-cooker moment.
With the field brought in, Klonaridis sweated on the modicum of width he was afforded, crunching a cut shot through cover point for four to win his side the game at 7.08pm on Sunday evening.
With grey skies closing in late in the day, and the visitors making consistent breakthroughs at Coomoora Reserve, Doveton North gave itself every opportunity of defending 169 but was ultimately bested by a mature outfit.
Not for the first time this season, Coomoora was let down by its top order, falling to 5/90, putting the onus on the lower-order to step up.
‘Keeper Charith Sylvester’s 34 off 35 was similar to his counter-punch in the Turf 3 grand final last year before he was deceived by Sachith Jayasingha.
That wicket followed a pattern evident throughout the day for the home side, where the more established batter tended to fall just as the other player got set, which ultimately kept the Roos in the hunt.
Lalanka Dhanasekara, Adam Wheeler, who has opened the batting twice this season, and Malan Madusanka were other tail-enders to play brief but important cameos.
Dhanasekara, in particular, was impressive; a ramp for four off a De Silva ball on middle stump in the 40th over – just as the Lions built pressure through dots – embodying his confidence.
The win is an important one for Coomoora but follows a pattern of poor batting efforts from the top seven.
Its score of 132 against Berwick Springs included 47 runs from numbers 7-11 in the order.
The 184 against Silverton included 84 runs from bottom five batters, while the 152 against Fountain Gate contained 82 runs from those players before Sunday’s performance, where those players contributed 60.
The outlier was the clash with Lynbrook when the batters played with freedom to reach 8/352.
Dhanasekara was the pick of the bowlers, bowling upfront and at the death to nab five wickets including four top-order batters.
Madusanka controlled the middle overs beautifully with 3/28 off 12.
While Doveton North fell just short, the game proved that it can compete against the best teams in Turf 3.
Having cashed in against struggling sides, there were question marks over both Doveton North’s depth and confidence, given it is their first season together.
It was Jeewantha Hennadige’s clean ball striking and Amardeep Hothi’s positive running between the wickets which led the visitors to 169.
Neither has yet made substantial contributions this season, but both stood up to steady the ship after the loss of three early wickets.
With the ball, Dissanayake, left medium-pacer Carim, and Niluka Gamage, each provided strong support to De Silva and Jayasingha who have carried the load in the early rounds.
Dissanayake opened up and was the most economical seamer on the day, while right arm medium bowler Gamage got the breakthrough of Joel Robertson who looked set for a long stay, and Carim’s change-ups kept the Lions in the game through the middle.
Meanwhile, a Justin Smith five-fa and Hasindu Waduge century led Fountain Gate to a comfortable win over Berwick Springs; Silverton skipper Rob North led from the front with 82 against Doveton to make it two on the trot for the Bakers; and after several steady hands this year, Harjinder Sohal broke through for his first half-century of the season in Lynbrook’s routing of Hampton Park.
RESULTS: Lynbrook defeat Hampton Park by 164 runs, Coomoora defeat Doveton North by one wicket, Silverton defeat Doveton by 118 runs, Fountain Gate defeat Berwick Springs by 57 runs
LADDER: Fountain Gate 38, Doveton North 32, Lynbrook 30, Coomoora 30, Berwick Springs 21, Silverton 15, Doveton 12, Hampton Park 3
ROUND 8 FIXTURE: Silverton v Lynbrook, Hampton Park v Doveton, Doveton North v Fountain Gate, Coomoora v Berwick Springs
