By Jonty Ralphsmith
Coomoora’s clash with Fountain Gate looms as a ladder-shaper in Turf 3.
The Roos, coming off a grand final appearance last year, are an uber-consistent force, having maintained a stable, experienced squad for several years without quite breaking through.
But Coomoora is yet to sustain its absolute best this season.
Following a round 2 loss to Berwick Springs, it put on a massive 352 against Lynbrook to win by 120 runs, before passing Silverton’s first innings score of 113 six down on the weekend.
Aggressor Rahoul Pankhania made 127 in the dig against Lynbrook with two other batters passing 50, but there have been no half-centuries in the other two innings.
With the ball, tweaker Malan Madusanka will look to control the middle overs, but the hosts would love some quick bowlers to get some wickets to heighten confidence ahead of Christmas.
Fountain Gate, meanwhile, will finally get a true gauge of how far it has come in the off-season following this game.
The Gators are undefeated in 2023-24, but the three wins have all come against winless teams: Silverton, Doveton (outright) and Hampton Park (outright).
Ted Sampath’s crew also drew with Doveton North, but their currency too remains unknown given their easy fixture and recent promotion from Turf 4.
While that has given players such as Karan Singh and Hasindu Waduge confidence which would reverberate around a young group.
The match will give an indication of how far Fountain Gate has come since last season when it was made to look second rate against the more experienced opposition.
Meanwhile, Silverton will be tipped to finally break the 2023-24 duck against Hampton Park, Lynbrook should ease past Doveton and Doveton North faces a stern test against Berwick Springs.
TIP: COOMOORA v Fountain Gate, SILVERTON v Hampton Park, LYNBROOK v Doveton, Doveton North v BERWICK SPRINGS
