By Charlene Gatt
WILLIAMSTOWN is riding on a high after a spectacular opening innings in its Victorian Sub District Cricket Association match over Sunshine on Saturday saw it finish on a whopping 268.
Sunshine will need to pull out the big guns this week if it is to have any hope of beating Williamstown on day two.
Despite valiant attempts from Glen Sullivan (3/60) and David Bonavia (3/39), the home side’s bowlers were no match for fourth-ranked Williamstown, which dominated the pitch.
The first innings score was largely due to Rohan Smith (80) and Nick Jensen (55), who had Sunshine’s fielders running all over the oval, while Cameron Smith (35), Mark Brown (29) and Craig Sheedy (24) also contributed handy totals.
Meanwhile, fifth-placed Brighton will need to put up a strong field in preparation for Werribee’s first innings this weekend after hitting 175 thanks to the batting efforts of Ryan Sweeney (54) and Richard Herman (33), while Werribee’s Kirk Norton showed promise when he bowled an astounding 4/27.
Werribee saw out the day to be 2/14.
At Walter Galt Reserve, Kingston Saints are chasing 160 after bowlers Adrian Jones (3/41) and Matthew Walsh (3/23) quashed early hopes of a century from Altona’s Gordon MacFarlane (59) and dashed a chance at a half century for Mark Pilditch, who ended on 43.
Caulfield showed why it’s number one with a superb batting performance from Matthew Sundberg, who contributed a whopping 90 runs to the side’s total of 193 against Yarraville.
Lachlan Graf (27) and Mark Thomas (22) also showed great skill with the bat while Yarraville’s Alex Hewet bowled a respectable 3/50.
The Saints opened up with the bat late in the day and sit at 1/20.
At Sewell Reserve, Broadmeadows is in dire trouble after batting for a mere 89 for its first innings against Malvern.
Malvern’s Monto Perera dominated with the leather and bowled an amazing 4/6 to stop the side in its tracks.
The away side has already hit 5/92 in its opening innings, with Nicholas Gill (25) and Sean Ayres (21) showing early promise despite bowler Michael Streiff’s best attempts (3/48) to nip it in the bud.
And despite being firmly rooted at the bottom of the ladder, Ormond scored an impressive 9/191 against sixth-placed Moorabbin.
At MacPherson Park, the much-anticipated Melton v Elsternwick test match was cancelled due to rain.
The two sides will play out round 12 this Saturday in a one-day game.
Play resumes this Saturday at 1pm.
