By Marcus Uhe
It was a day that Amith Eranda and everyone who watched him at Chandler Recreation Reserve on Saturday will likely never forget.
When the Sri Lankan batter came to the crease, Emerald had reached 2/106 in the 34th over, needing a win over Pakenham Upper Toomuc and other results to fall their way to qualify for finals action.
By the time he left, the scoreboard read 5/554, thanks to his incredible triple century.
To fully appreciate the innings, you have to look at the scorecard, where Eranda required a second row in the scorers’ book to record all his shots.
Depositing balls into the surrounding shrubs and fauna at will, Eranda finished not out on 307 from just 139 deliveries, with 20 sixes and 27 fours, having put-on 308 for the last wicket with Michael Nell off 26.3 overs.
A single on the leg side brought-up the milestone, eliciting rapturous applause from those watching on the balcony.
Eranda, whose previous highest score was 255 during a junior cricket game in Sri Lanka, said he felt like he was ‘in’ early in the innings.
“The first few boundaries felt good so I kept going, there was no need to stop,” Eranda said.
“I talked to Owen (Thorne) about what the plan is and he said “try to bat positive”.
“After the first hundred I was going for the 150, then the 200, step-by-step.”
So extraordinary was the feat that not even those closest to him could fathom what they heard, and needed proof from the man himself.
“After the game I called my sister, she was very happy. I called my girlfriend, she was very happy,” the triple-century maker said.
“Everyone couldn’t believe it, but I said ‘it’s true, I made 300’.
“I sent the scorecard and it was put on Facebook, and everyone tagged me, I got a lot of messages.”
Five overs breached the 20-run mark, while a boundary was scored in every over between 55th and 71st.
The last 10 overs yielded 107 alone.
Sixes were falling just as hard as the rain on Saturday afternoon as the Yabbies tried just about everything to put the brakes on Eranda, from suggesting play should be stopped because of the wet weather, to wicketkeeper and captain Prabath Kobbekaduwa taking the pads off and rolling the arm over.
Ben McLeod bore the brunt of the onslaught, with his 34 overs costing 191 runs after taking two early wickets.
One four-over spell resulted in 70 runs scored alone.
Bombers’ President Clinton Marsh was in awe of Eranda’s performance.
“It was incredible to watch, the best batting you could ever wish to see,” he said.
“We were all very lucky to be on hand to witness it.”
Having hit 219 runs from his previous six innings this season, the 307 takes his 2022/23 season average from a very respectable 43.8 to a jarring 75.14.
His knock completely overshadowed his captain Owen Thorne’s innings of 101, his second hundred of the district season.
Pakenham Upper Toomuc would have felt they were in the contest early, with McLeod removing Ethan Crosher for 18 and Michael Hoban taking 95 balls to reach 25.
But between Thorne and Eranda, the two scored 73 per cent of their team’s imposing total, to give themselves the best possible chance of qualifying for finals, should the bowlers hold-up their end of the bargain this week.
