By Marcus Uhe
A sixth-consecutive win in Victorian Premier Cricket sees Casey South Melbourne remain within striking distance of breaking into the competition’s top four.
The brilliant summer of all-rounder Ruwantha Kellapotha continued for the Swans in the weekend’s triumph, with another starring performance in both disciplines to pilot the seven-wicket win over Geelong at Casey Fields.
He’s the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 27 wickets at 20.7, and is second for total runs at the Swans with 311 at 28.2, trailing only Matthew Calder by 11 runs, making him a major player in Ryder Medal contention.
Over the weekend, his 3/71 helped bring a premature end to the visitors’ batting innings for 175, before top-scoring with 81 in the reply, as Casey South Melbourne completed the equation with seven wickets in hand.
With the Swans losing the toss and forced to field in Saturday’s heat, Kellapotha pounced on some hard yards from strike bowler Nathan Lambden early in the innings.
Lambden struck with the third ball of the afternoon and followed up with a second later in his spell to have both of Geelong’s opening batters back in the sheds within the first seven overs.
A pair of 50-run partnerships in the middle order saw Geelong look to rebuild its innings but the quicks had made irreversible damage in the early stages to render them entirely on the back foot.
Kellapotha returned to the bowling crease for his second spell in the 51st over and struck with his first ball to take the eighth Geelong wicket, and the ninth with the last ball of his over as the visitors’ innings came to a crashing halt.
Luke Shelton claimed the final wicket on the first ball of the 52nd over to make it 3/0 in seven balls.
Ashley Chandrasinghe departed early in the chase, the left-hander edging onto his stumps for just seven, but a 104-run partnership from Kellapotha and Yash Pednekar alleviated any concerns of a collapse for the Swans.
Pednekar’s inconsistent year continued for the Swans, making 35 in a summer where, like Chandrasinghe, he has failed to live up to high standards set during the previous campaign.
A top-edged sweep of leg spinner Arjun Sehrawat shortly before stumps on day one brought his downfall, slumping to his knees and shaking his head in frustration as he left the pitch.
Casey South Melbourne resumed day two at 2/117 needing only a further 59 runs for victory.
They cruised to the target in the 55th over the innings, with Kellapotha departing with the target in sight at 3/152.
The Swans reached 256 in 79 overs, before bowling at Geelong for a second time on Sunday afternoon.
Geelong managed 4/155 in the second innings, with Lambden, Kellapotha and Calder each taking one wicket each, and Chandrasinghe affecting a run out.
Casey South Melbourne sits one point behind fourth-placed Dandenong, but is the only side in the top six with a negative net run rate.
They will shoot for a seventh win on the trot next weekend against Northcote away.
