By Marcus Uhe
Inclement weather made for a subdued second attempted start to the Turf 1 season for half of the competition, with one game completed, one finishing frustratingly premature and two unable to unfold.
Play was abandoned in North Dandenong’s clash with Springvale South and Hallam Kalora Park’s visit to Buckley Ridges before a ball was bowled in both contests, meaning Narre South’s 33-run win over St Mary’s was the only live action on Saturday afternoon.
An excellent performance with the ball, on a tricky batting wicket, had the Saints in poll-position to claim an important victory early in the season but the heroics could not be matched with the bat.
Narre South could only manage 118 as tight bowling made the scoring extremely challenging.
Englishman Callum Nicholls top scored with 29 off just 73 deliveries, such was the challenge in getting the ball away.
His dismissal shortly after that of captain Kyle Hardy saw the Lions fall to 5/62 in the 26th over, and could have been six down had Riley McDonald not survived an appeal for caught behind off just his second delivery.
His want and his side’s need for boundaries saw him chip a simple return catch to Saveen Nanayakkara, before Brad Parker was dismissed off the next ball off the bowling of Toby Wilson under controversial circumstances.
The Saints’ new wicketkeeper Safaras Moahomad took a catch diving down the leg side but despite the Saints’ celebrations, the umpires were unsure if the ball carried into Moahomad’s gloves.
The two men in charge conferred before sending Parker on his way, to his visible frustration.
The Lions were eventually dismissed on the final ball of the innings as the buoyant Saints left the field of play in great spirits to prepare for the chase.
Wickets were shared among the bowling group as Saveen Nanayakkara (three), Keppler Fernandez (two), Resandu Thilakarathna (two) and Deeshan Umagiliyage (two) each grabbed multiples, while five catches to Moahomad behind the stumps made an excellent first impression on his new teammates.
What they could not have prepared for, however, was the quality spell from the new ball pairing of Callan Tout and Alex Cruickshank.
After sharp work in-close from Hardy saw Raveen Nanayakkara run out with a direct hit, Tout and Cruickshank set about running through the remainder of the top order to have the visitors reeling at 7/28 in the 12th over.
Tout went right through Sarfaras and had Wendyl Pires adjudged LBW in consecutive balls to close the seventh over, and came centimetres away from claiming a hat trick on the first ball of his next as he beat the bat of Susantha Pradeep.
Tout brought the energy and hustle to the crease while Cruickshank settled into Australian conditions almost immediately, bowling an immaculate length and challenging the outside edges of the St Mary’s batters as the two bowlers forced a handful of timber rearrangements.
Reprieves came for the Saints when Hardy rotated his bowlers, but the damage had well and truly been inflicted.
Fernandez top-scored with 31 off 50 balls and provided some frustrating lower order resistance as the men in green and gold crawled to 85 before Cruikshank and Mendis combined to wrap-up the tail.
Cruickshank finished with a five-wicket haul in an ominous warning for opposing sides who would not have seen the English import bowl.
Attention then turned to Sunday’s Battle of the Creek between geographical neighbours in Berwick and Beaconsfield at Perc Allison Reserve.
The contest carried significant weight for both sides, as Berwick welcomed back a handful of former stars and premiership players, while Beaconsfield were making their Turf 1 debut after a Turf 2 premiership.
Like the Saints the day before, the Tigers held the advantage after the first innings, having kept Berwick to just 124.
Only Jarryd Wills (41) made a significant contribution for the Bears, with seven batters dismissed for single-figure scores.
Jake Cutting’s accuracy forced a handful of rash shots, the most effective bowler to the top order with three scalps in the top four.
Relative stability at 3/70 crumbled to 124 all out after 43 overs as left-arm tweaker Ashan Madhushanka ran through the Bears’ lower order.
A number of Bears will not look back on their dismissals with pride, having tried to force balls through or over the infield unsuccessfully on a number of occasions.
Matthew Hague spooned a catch to mid off from the bowling of Kevin Seth, Jake Hancock was caught off-guard by a Cutting short ball to lob a pull shot straight to square leg, and Matt Robertson skied a pull shot for Cutting to swallow in his follow-through.
Jordan Cleland too offered a high catch to mid off, while Jarryd Wills was visibly shocked at being given out caught behind, thanks to a juggling catch from Michael Dunstan.
Madhushanka finished with 4/23 off his 10 overs and Cutting 3/11 from six as the Bears’ innings came to a close in the 44th over.
Mark Cooper and Tyler Clark made a promising start to the run chase, reaching 32 without loss before a calamitous mix-up between the pair on a single saw Clark run out at the beginning of the 11th over.
Cooper joined Clark back in the sheds for 23 just a few balls later when he edged to Hague at first slip off Corey Bevan’s bowling to leave the home side with two new batters at the crease.
One combined run from Yohan Arumadura, Madhushanka and Seth at three, four and five respectively saw the hosts receive a rude awakening to life in Turf 1.
Jesse Busacca and Riley Clark were forced to occupy time at the crease before Hague took a stunning one-handed catch at slip to remove Clark for just two off 23 deliveries as the hosts fell to 6/47.
When Trishane Silva perished in the 26th over to the spin of Elliot Matthews, the home side had lost 7/22 in 15 overs.
Rain disrupted the contest in the evening, with play eventually called with the Tigers at 7/74 after 30 overs as the points were shared.
