By JARROD POTTER
VSDCA South East 1st XI – Round 11 (day 1)
SMASHING their way through Moorabbin, Endeavour Hills (9/297) made a big statement on the first day of their Round 11 clash.
All Eagles soared against the Moorabbin attack as Thomas Hafil (59) and Zach Allen (34) started off proceedings with a 52 run stand.
Allen fell early LBW, leaving the heavy lifting to Hafil and Shean Vanderwert (47) – to push the Eagles towards the double-century mark.
The next man to cash in was Ben Swift (52) who batted through to the end in a standout performance.
Swift had good support at the other end from Richard Saniga (30) and Vaughan Baxter (15) to give Endeavour Hills one last push towards the looming triple century. The Eagles would fall short by three runs, but no one would be complaining in the Endeavour Hills’ camp as it turned around the indifferent form that banished them from the top six in recent rounds.
NOBLE PARK v BAYSWATER PARK
SIMILARLY cashing in on the batting friendly conditions, Noble Park (6/287) also made a big play for finals on the back of three stellar half-centuries.
Jake Richardson (60) and Andrew O’Meara (52) found their feet straight away to leave Bayswater Park on the back foot. The duo notched 74 before both falling in quick succession. More reliable than a swiss clock, superstar batsman Marasinghe Perera (91 not out) would take the rest of the innings under his wing as he notched his sixth half-century-or-better knock and moved to 558 runs for the year.
Perera would only be stopped by the day’s end as Bayswater Park had no answers for the swashbuckling Sri Lankan.
In tandem with Sanjeewa de Silva (29) and Chris Lee (16 not out), the Bulls charged towards 300 and made hard work for the home side next week.
