Buckley Ridges stamped its authority over Berwick on Saturday as the reigning premier won the much-anticipated top-of-the-table clash by five wickets at Park Oval.
The Bucks have been cruising through to this point and have six batters who have scored more than 100 runs this season.
Dale Tormey and Ben Wright have been the most consistent and destructive, but it was former Wookey Medallist and star all-rounder Ishan Jayarathna who delivered on this occasion.
Jayarathna did it all, taking 3/34 and belting 81 not out to help his team chase down 203 in the second innings with ample time to spare.
Buckley Ridges captain Jayson Hobbs said it was pleasing to register a victory over a quality team.
“The conditions were suited to bowling and we used that to our advantage, I think we had them 3/3 at one stage and then we had to come off for a bit of rain,” he said.
“They consolidated a bit and pushed on to a reasonable score of 205, but I thought we chased really well – it was a good win in the end.”
The Bears actually won the toss and elected to bat first in a bid to get runs on the board with a big total.
But it didn’t start well for the visitors as they lost openers Jarryd Wills (2) and Lachlan Brown (duck) early, before in-form batsman Jake Hancock soon departed for just 1.
Three of Berwick’s four best batters were out for just three runs combined and the pressure was on the middle order to dig in and wrestle back the momentum.
Michael Wallace managed to get a strong start before he was dismissed for 22 and the Bears were in desperate need of a partnership.
Chathura Imbulagoda has been scoring bulk runs in Turf 4 this season and was brought in for the clash, delivering in spades.
He reached his half century and then pushed on, combining beautifully with Vinuda Liyanage, who was also looking comfortable at the crease.
Imbulagoda (64) and Liyanage (40) single-handedly brought Berwick back from the brink of defeat, with Jordan Cleland (36) also producing his best score of the season – the recovery mission got the score to 203.
Despite claiming the early wickets of Josh Holden (duck) and Ben Wright (12), Berwick began to feel the absence of Toby Wills and James Trodd, as the Bucks took a hold of the game.
Tormey (45) got the side off to a flying start as he has done so often this season, but wickets continued to tumble and when Triyan De Silva (18) was run out by Jarrod Goodes, the score was 4/88 and Berwick had the upper hand.
Jayson Hobbs strolled to the crease and joined Jayarathna and the pair produced what would eventually be a match-winning 68-run partnership.
“Ishy was super, we obviously won the toss and bowled on a wicket that was doing a bit and he got the ball in the right areas,” Hobbs said.
“He caused some damage early taking three wickets and then with the bat, he had plenty of time and struck the ball to all areas.
“It was a really classy knock and good to watch, it was a super game from him.”
Berwick bowler Tom Davis (2/35) worked hard and eventually got his second wicket as he knocked over Hobbs for 31, but Jayarathna scored 81 not out to see the Bucks home as they keep their undefeated streak alive.
The two teams will clash again on Saturday at Arch Brown Reserve, and Hobbs said his side will be placing a greater focus on its fielding efforts.
“We have probably let ourselves down a fair bit in the field in the early stages of this season,” he said.
“It cost us a bit more on the weekend against a quality side, so it’s something we have to focus on as individuals and as a team to get better at.”
Hobbs added that the message and plan coming into Saturday would be similar to that of last weekend.
“We knew they had started the season really well in both formats and expected that we were going to have a really good contest, and we got that,” he said.
“Backing up against them pretty quickly, their players are fresh in the mind and I’m sure it will be another good contest, we are looking forward to the challenge.”
In the other game, Springvale South did it easy against Parkmore on Saturday, chasing down the Pirates’ total of 116 with eight wickets in hand and just 24 overs in the reduced 38-over match.
Jordan Gwynne (24) and Lochana Premarathna (22) were the two main contributors for Parkmore, while the Bloods shared the wickets around.
All five bowlers took a wicket each, with Josh Dowling (3/43), Jarryd Straker (2/8) and Dasun Opanayaka (2/23) all impressing.
The Turf 1 match between Beaconsfield and Narre South, which was scheduled for Perc Allison Oval, was called off due to the weather conditions.
All teams in Turf 1 will play each other once again in round 7 this weekend.
