By Marcus Uhe
Casey-South Melbourne’s Ashley Chandrasinghe was afforded the chance to unwrap one of his 2024 Christmas presents early on Saturday, with the gift inside at the top of his wishlist.
In making 100 from 129 deliveries in Victorian Premier Cricket on Saturday against Kingston Hawthorn, Chandrasinghe was able to remove his helmet and salute a century for the first time this summer, ending a bleak run for the Victorian batter.
It was just his second score above 50 in all matches this summer, having endured a difficult period for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield, alongside his struggles for his Premier club.
Coming off four hundreds and five half-centuries in a prolific season last summer, it’s a welcome return to form for the left-hander, who made it back-to-back hundreds against the Hawks, having also saluted in Cranbourne 12 months prior.
His was the largest contribution of the innings as the Swans posted and defended 4/259 in a one-day contest at Casey Fields.
Yash Pednekar made 53 and Matthew Calder 45 in addition to Chandrasinghe’s innings before the quicks made light work of the Hawks’ top order.
Nathan Lambden, Jack Stevenson and Vinu Mohotty each claimed a top-three wicket to put the Hawks on the back foot at 3/35 after 14 overs.
Luke Shelton then leant heavily on his spinning trio of himself, Kellapotha and Akshay Ramkumar to bowl the bulk of the remaining overs, with great success.
Ramkumar ended a building partnership of 83 between Jonothan Vincent and Jack Taylor before Shelton and Kellapotha grabbed two wickets each in the middle order to remove the backbone of the Hawks’ chase.
Lambden returned to blast out the tail in the 45th over, as the Swans claimed a comfortable 72-run win.
An up-and-down season to date has the Swans in sixth place, two points back from Dandenong in fifth, with a trip to Footscray the first assignment after Christmas.
