Coomoora made a statement of its class on Saturday after bowling top-side Fountain Gate out for 90 and putting itself in a strong position for an outright victory in Turf 3 of the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA).
After falling short against Berwick Springs, in its only major test so far this season, Coomoora has won its last two games comfortably but lacked the killer edge that has become associated with the experienced outfit.
Depth with bat and ball was what separated a constant flag threat from the competition risers.
Only Chanaka ‘Ted’ Sampath (31 off 26) ever looked comfortable at the crease for Fountain Gate, with the middle and lower-order unable to dig in after the guile of the quicks made repeated early inroads.
Having lost the Premi boys to Silverton last week, the increased batting depth which it needed against the competition pacesetters was absent and its middle-lower-order was exposed as brittle.
Whereas Coomoora found itself in a similar situation in its innings, with none of the top five able to reach 15, the middle-lower-order got Coomoora to 152, giving them a 61-run first innings lead.
Five of the last six Coomoora batters to the crease played important cameos, while Jasdeep Singh and Abdul Kamawi did the damage with the ball for Fountain Gate.
The pair took nine wickets in their 31.4 collective overs, creating a tricky eight over period in their second innings that the Gators batters had to navigate late on day one.
Both openers were dismissed along with night watcher Singh, the Gators sitting at 3/27 in their second innings, 35 behind with seven wickets in hand.
While the Gators have reasonably strong bowling stocks, Coomoora’s spread is more pronounced than anyone.
Four bowlers claimed first innings wickets on Saturday, and the attacking Jake Robertson was not even introduced to the attack, while regular wicket-taker Michael Klonaridis was not playing.
Nick Lloyd and Dean Krelle each found an early breakthrough and the run-out of Harrison Lees soon after energised the home team in the field.
Meanwhile, Berwick Springs chose to bowl first against Doveton North on a spicy, two-paced deck that spent the night undercover at Power Reserve.
In the biggest test for the Lions so far this season, the loss of two early wickets put them on the back foot before Mohammed Najibi dug in with Rukshan Carim.
Coming off a century at better than a-run-a-ball last week, Carim faced 74 balls for just 23 while Najibi’s 21 came off 125 balls.
Scott Lindsay locked in for a long spell before tea, tying up an end and getting just enough movement to keep the batters poking and proding.
His 20 overs yielded 0/30 and helped Ethan Marinic claim 4/13 off 11.4 at the other end.
Doveton North took an over for 17 just after tea recognising the need to increase the intent, but they were ultimately dismissed quickly for 132 off 62.4 overs.
Berwick Springs had 17 overs to face on day one and looked to be cruising at 1/48, before two late wickets kept the Lions in the hunt.
Meanwhile, Lynbrook looks set to consign Doveton to its third-consecutive outright loss.
After bowling the Doves out for 80, Lynbrook batted for just 12 overs to reach 1/90, before sending the visitors back in.
Doveton currently sit at 9/101, just 91 runs ahead as Medie Dala claimed five wickets in his spell to break the back of a brief period of resistance.
At Springvale Reserve, Silverton claimed its first win of the season and is well-positioned to claim an outright.
After bowling the winless Hampton Park out for 88, Silverton declared at 6/142.
Hampton Park is 3/54, currently equal with the Bakers’ first innings score.
