By Jonty Ralphsmith
Three of the four Turf 2 games in the Dandenong District Cricket Association are in the balance at stumps on day one.
Heinz Southern Districts (HSD) was the only team able to grasp a clear advantage over its opponent, reaching 9/254 against Keysborough.
It’s a disappointing outcome for the Borough, which dug deep last week to upset Cranbourne and was close to upsetting the Cobras earlier in the season.
The headline-grabbing result of the weekend was Parkmore bowling Dandenong West out for 104, but the all-round strength of the Bulls’ bowling lineup has the match in a tantalising position.
Narre Warren reduced Cranbourne to a solid 175 as no-one was able to go on with their starts, the Magpies sitting at 3/44 in response.
Like Cranbourne, Parkfield was solid but the dismissal of a set batter as it tried to gain ascendancy has kept the match in the balance, the Bandits setting Lyndale 173 after a fourth-consecutive strong opening partnership between Nathaniel Cramer and Dishan Malalasekera.
Summary: (Day one) Narre Warren 3/44 v Cranbourne 175, Dandenong West 104 v Parkmore 0/4, Lyndale v Parkfield 173, Keysborough v HSD 9/254
Ladder: Dandenong West 50 HSD 39, Parkfield 39, Cranbourne 30, Lyndale 30, Parkmore 24, Narre Warren 21, Keysborough 15
DILUM SASANTHA IMPRESSES
Left arm seam bowler Dilum Sasantha played an important supporting role on Saturday; Parkmore pleased with his progress this season.
Bowling first change to an unbeaten opening partnership, Sasantha’s vigour put pressure squarely on the batters and created opportunities for his team.
He had to bide his time to start the season, his only senior game before Christmas being against Parkfield.
But a second XI four-wicket haul against Cranbourne was wedged between a series of impressive displays, enough to earn a call up for Round 10’s win where he helped dismantle Lyndale.
Taking the wickets of Anthony Brannan and Nuwan Kulasekara, alongside Matt Collett underlines his progress.
He finished with figures of 3/25 off 14.
The strong bowling performance follows the Pirates dismissing Lyndale for 35 in Round 11.
The protagonist of the bowling lineup, however, was Ammar Bajwa who picked up 5/16 in 5.5 overs.
TWIN FIVE-WICKET HAULS
Narre Warren pace bowlers Damien Gamage and Talal Shahzad each picked up five wickets to bowl Cranbourne out for 175 in 58 overs.
Extraordinarily, Gamage, who has been on the edge of the First XI all season, bowled 16 overs on the bounce.
The first-change bowler picked up the first five wickets and conceded just 30 runs in an unrelenting spell.
“The thing with him was staying patient on his line and length,” said skipper Ben Swift.
“He barely missed his spot the whole day, it was a good display of bowling.
“He bowled really well last week and carried that into this week.
“He rolled his fingers on the ball and the pitch was a bit tacky so I thought he’d get a bit of purchase out of it and he gave me no reason to take him off.”
Swift was also pleased to see Shahzad get rewarded for his hard work.
The teenager had just four wickets this season coming into Saturday and never more than one in a match.
Shahzad appears to be finding his feet as a bowler who can control the middle overs and do damage with the older ball, having initially been brought into the side last season to open up.
“I could definitely see him cementing a spot in the ones, there’s no reason he can’t keep doing what he’s doing because he’s got a vested interest in it,” Swift said.
“As he continued to work on that consistency and fills out a bit, he’ll be harder to face because he gets it to pop up a bit.”
The Magpies have been increasingly competitive throughout the season as they have gelled as a team and new names have taken responsibility.
TRIYAN DELIVERS
Triyan De Silva’s season so far has been a metaphor for his side: indifferent with the bat, lionhearted with the ball.
On Saturday, the Cobras – and De Silva – were able to turn their fortunes with the blade around, scoring 9/254 against Keysborough.
Brent Patterson gave them a solid foundation, before De Silva took every opportunity to score, his 70 off 86 a reminder to the competition of his talent with bat in hand which his club will hope to see consistently in the last two months of the season.
The middle-order bat had got starts in five of his nine hits leading into last weekend but a high score of 45 reflected his inability to play a match-winning hand.
Anuda Akmeemana also scored a half-century on Saturday.
