An incredible knock of 119 not out from opening batter Shaun Weir guided Dandenong West to a dominant nine-wicket win over Parkmore.
It was Weir’s first Turf 1 century after narrowly missing out earlier in the year with 87 against Buckley Ridges, having already reached triple figures in the past at Turf 2 level.
Parkmore batted first and made 173, which was never going to be enough once Weir got going, belting the ball to all parts of the ground to cap off an impressive win.
After a tough start to the season, Dandenong West is back on track and has now won two in a row, with captain Riley Siwes sensing positive growth within the side.
“It was a really good win … we finished off the first half of the season well with a thrilling win over Narre South, so that definitely gave us a little bit more confidence coming into this one,” he said.
“Everybody played a role on the day and did well.”
The Pirates batted first and slumped to 6/89 as captain Niranjen Kumar fell after a patient innings of 13, before the next wicket fell at 7/111.
“The tail wagged a little bit, we probably had a bit of a flat spot there at the end where we thought those three wickets were just going to happen,” Siwes said.
“But credit to our boys, we didn’t let it blow out to a score of 200 plus.”
Ankit Saxena, primarily known as a bowler, broke a lean run of form with a classy half century, helping lift Parkmore to 173 as the Pirates batted out the overs.
Dinesh Kulasekara impressed with 4/23 for the Bulls, while young recruit Jayden Camilleri and Malinga Bandara took two wickets each.
With the bat, Mohit Mandora (3) was the only wicket to fall as Weir and Nipunaka Fonseka (35 not out) put on a 145-run partnership win comfortably.
Siwes said Weir had actually gave him some credit for his unbeaten century, after Siwes helped the opener find some touch at training on Thursday.
“When he was on about 70, I said to him, ‘you have a super opportunity to get that first Turf 1 hundred right here and he just goes ‘thanks for bowling to me on Thursday night,” Siwes laughed.
“It’s because he whacked me everywhere.”
Weir even pulled out a reverse sweep on 97, which made his teammates nervous, but he soon reached triple figures and raised the bat.
Siwes will be hoping for a similar performance from Weir against the Bucks this weekend, chasing a “very competitive effort”.
“We are looking for our third win in a row and we are back on our ground, anything can happen in one-day games,” he said.
“The boys know where we’re at and that our best can win, it’s about bringing that more often than not and hopefully we can take the six points.”
