By Marcus Uhe
Losses in consecutive weeks has seen Casey South Melbourne fall from first to fifth in Victorian Premier Cricket in the last fortnight.
Returning to Casey Fields on Saturday, the Swans were unable to chase Geelong’s total of 224 in a One Day contest, falling 12 runs short after 50 overs.
A strangely wet surface greeted the two sides in Cranbourne, with Swans skipper Luke Shelton electing to bowl first to their visitors from across the other side of the city.
Nathan Lambden and Jackson Fry bowled typically tight in the opening overs, offering limited scoring opportunities to Geelong.
Lambden beat the bat consistently and made a handful of appeals for LBW, but failed to convince the men in charge.
Frugal bowling saw Cats opener Hayden Butterworth run a risky single on the awaiting arm of Ashley Chandrasinghe, who was alert to the opportunity and broke the opening partnership on 40.
Devin Pollock then snaffled a diving catch to his right in the following over to remove Ryan Aikman, leaving the visitors with two new batters at the crease after 12 overs.
An 87-run stand then eventuated for the third wicket, ended again through a Chandrasinghe run-out of captain Joshua Larkin.
Consistent wickets kept the pressure on Geelong, with no batter passing 50 but plenty making starts, bowled out on their final ball of the innings for 224.
Casey South Melbourne skipper Luke Shelton bowled excellently in the middle overs, taking 2/42 from nine overs, Lambden the only other multiple wicket-taker with 3/38 from 10.
Chandrasinghe and Ruwantha Kellapotha made an excellent start to the run chase, making their way to a 109-run opening partnership until Kellapotha was forced to depart for 46.
Michael Wallace and Devin Pollock then both came and went in quick succession, leaving Chandrasinghe and Chris Benedek to steady the ship.
Chandrasinghe quickly found himself as the lynchpin of the innings, in part due to a lack of contributions from his teammates, his wicket for 65 proving decisive in the Geelong defence.
Benedek’s 34 was the highest individual score in the middle order that felt the pinch of a climbing required run rate.
The Swans batted out the 50 overs but could only reach 8/212, succeeding second place in the process.
With three rounds remaining, there’s still time to make up the gap – only six points separate the Swans from Carlton in top spot, with three teams tied for second place on 49 points.
Three two-day games conclude the home-and-away season; the Swans’ run home beginning at Northcote on Saturday.
