By ADEM SARICAOGLU
KEALBA Green Gully suffered its first Luscombe Shield loss of the season against fellow competition frontrunner Pascoe Vale Central on Saturday.
After choosing to bat first at Central’s home deck in Oak Park, the Cougars posted a solid 8/172 in their 40-over dig.
Openers Michael West (16) and Daniel Hewitt (25) got the ball rolling nicely for Kealba before Balraj Randhawa came in at number four to top-score for the Cougars with 35.
The visitors then stumbled through the middle order and were languishing at 6/130, but a 30-run stand between Tristan Krizanic and Jayce Blum (13 each) ensured Kealba a respectable total by the end of the innings.
Krizanic then continued his good day with the ball, claiming three wickets, albeit for an expensive 41 runs in eight overs.
Pascoe Vale Central took 37 overs to reach its target, losing just five wickets along the way as a young Cougars outfit struggled to contain Brett McGinniskin and Joseph Cavoli, who finished unbeaten on 37 and 23 respectively.
Jarrod Catania (1/50) and Matthew Nadzielski (1/33) snared Kealba’s remaining two wickets for the day.
Kealba captain-coach Evan Long – who led a youthful side missing regular starters Andrew Lambropolous, David Rogowski and Danny Viani – took plenty of positives out of the loss.
“I think our batting’s really good,” Long said.
“It’s improving, which has been a focal point this week in particular because we really haven’t batted together as a unit.”
Long then added he was pleased to see first-hand some of the club’s younger brigade stepping up in the first XI, albeit for no victory.
“We had a bit of youth in the side, which is good, and they stood up and everyone chipped in,” Long said.
“But I think our bowling side of it just had a bit of an off day.
“I thought we probably could’ve got another 10 or 15 runs and made it a bit more interesting. If our bowling was clicking on all cylinders, we reckon it’d be a different result.
“But there’s plenty of improvement to come, which is the positive.”
This Saturday Kealba Green Gully will host competition battlers Clarkefield Brumbies in another one-day clash.
