By Marcus Uhe
Coomoora is quickly proving to be a force to be reckoned with in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 2 competition, having adapted to life in the higher grade brilliantly in the competition’s early stages.
Having stumbled late in the finish against Lyndale in round two, there were no-such causes for concern on Saturday, thrashing St Mary’s by seven wickets at Carroll Reserve.
In a contest between a Turf 1 side and a Turf 3 side from the previous summer, you could be forgiven for assuming that it was the Roos that had been relegated from the higher division.
St Mary’s lasted just 27.5 overs in their innings of 70, a score that the ‘Roos chased with ease in just 16 overs.
Temptation got the better of St Mary’s, with a preference to play aggressive shots bringing their batters’ downfall time-and-again.
Raveen Nanayakkara’s 14 was the highest score on the batting card, followed by Mehdi Ali’s 13.
Spinner, Malan Madusanka dazzled with 4/15 from his eight overs, recapturing his sensational form that saw him rip through Turf 3 a summer ago, with Jackson Noske joining him with four wickets.
It’s the Roos’ bowling depth, combined with the premiership-winning mentalities and philosophies that guided them to success last year that has fuelled their adaptation to the higher grade, in eyes of captain, Liam Hard.
Despite conceding that he is yet to find ‘the mixture’ yet, the skipper is blessed with a varied and attacking bowling arsenal.
“We’ve seriously got seven or eight bowlers at the moment; (Michael) Klonaridis took five last week and didn’t even get a bowl this week,” he said.
“Noske hit his straps, he got the ball going through pretty quick on the weekend, which was nice.
“(Madusanka), we’re pretty lucky to have had a guy like him for the last four years, we throw him the ball and we know something is going to happen.
“It’s good that whatever wicket there is, we can throw it around.”
Even with Lance Baptist and Rahoul Pankhania not available for selection due to injury and personal reasons, respectively, Coomoora’s prowess with the ball has meant the absences have been nullified.
Pankhania will return next week but Baptist is not expected until the back half of the year, having suffered a severe calf strain.
As a result of two exceptional performances in the field, the batting unit becomes the area with room for improvement.
“We (need to) find a little more stability in our batting,” Hard said.
“I think our bowling is going to be our backbone if we can get that right.
“Our fielding is pretty good I think the batting is the one to get nice and stable, especially that opening partnership.”
Around the competition, a century from Mackenzie Gardner was the catalyst for HSD’s thrashing of Narre Warren by 200 runs in a frightening display.
Gardner showed his immense talent in the innings, hitting 140 from 126 deliveries to push his side to a monster score of 3/323, at a rate of 7.2 runs per over.
He and opener Zahoor Sarwari shared in a 187-run partnership for the second wicket before Sarwari fell an agonising two runs from his century.
Gardner had no such issues, cruising to his mammoth unbeaten ton as the backbone of the innings.
Magpie bowlers Gurshaan Singh, John Mentiplay and Waduge Fernando each conceded more than eight runs per over.
Outside of Ben Swift, the Magpies batters struggled for a foothold in the response, reaching just 123.
Swift made 33 at the top of the order with the next highest score just 13 from Rodni Kumara.
The innings came to an end after just 33 overs, with Ryan Patterson and Harry Funnell each taking three wickets apiece.
Elsewhere, Cranbourne scraped home against Lyndale by two wickets.
Spinning duo Harsaroup Singh and Harrison Carlyon combined to shred Lyndale’s middle order with five key wickets to alter the course of the game during the first innings.
Lyndale lost 5/10 including the key wickets of Rajika Fernando, Himesh Don and Aakhilesh Patil for single-figure scores, slipping from 2/61 to 7/71.
Captain Ben Mongomery offered a counter-punch late in the innings and helped his side reach 118, as Carlyon finished with 3/19 and Singh 4/19.
Carlyon and Dean McDonnell absorbed much of the pressure of the bat for Cranbourne, making decent starts before succumbing in the 30s.
Having taken the team to 4/101, McDonnell’s wicket was the second in a late-innings stumble where the Eagles lost 3/3, slipping from 3/98 to 6/101.
There was more late drama to come, with Cranbourne losing two more wickets with the finish line in sight, before Alex Hollingsworth and Tim Fathers guided them the total with two wickets to spare.
Fernando, Faraz Rahman and Usman Ali each took four wickets for Lyndale.
At Parkmore, a 0-2 start to the season from Parkfield has the Bandits in a vulnerable position after the season’s opening four rounds.
Another disappointing showing with the bat saw them post just 8/126 against Parkmore, a score the Pirates reeled in with four overs to spare at Frederick Wachter.
Parkfield’s batting innings ran into early trouble, losing 4/11 after an 18-run opening stand.
Riley Payne was removed without scoring, Sahan Jayawardene reached just three and Shahwali Mosavi just two in a dismal showing from the middle order.
Jayawardene’s wicket reduced Parkfield to 5/47, before some encouraging efforts from the lower order took them to a respectable score.
Travis D’Souza’s 36 was vital for the visitors, which quickly needs to address its woes with the bat.
It follows round two’s struggles, where they limped to 7/94 midway through the innings against HSD.
D’Souza added 39 for the sixth wicket with Hansika Kodikara before falling to Parkmore’s attack leader in Ankit Saxena.
Saxena’s late wickets saw him finish with brilliant figures of 4/26, having also curtailed Kodikara on 25.
Ammar Bawja took 1/19 from his 12 overs in an excellent display for Parkmore.
Parkmore struggled for runs outside of its opening pair but reached the total six wickets down.
Sivakumaran Fernandu played an aggressive innings at the top of the card, hitting a boundary-heavy 35, with opening partner Kyle Gwynne offering a more steady 28.
Parkfield took 6/52 once it broke the 55-run opening stand, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a second loss from two matches.
A popular preseason premiership tip, the Bandits had high expectations coming off a grand final appearance last summer but are yet to recapture that form in the new season’s early stages.
Nick Jeffrey returned excellent figures of 2/22 from his 12 overs.
