Greenvale Kangaroos are in a prime position to knock off Yarraville Club in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association’s senior division.
The Kangaroos batsmen found their groove on Saturday and made the most of it, posting 327 against the ladder leaders.
For Kangaroos captain-coach Jon Kent, making a 300-plus score against any side is a good day with the bat.
Kent watched from the sidelines, having broken his finger the round before. He’s due to have surgery on it this week.
“All through the last few games, even when we’ve lost, we’ve been batting solidly,” he said.
“It was good to see some of the guys go on and get some big scores.
“CJ [Chinthaka Jayasinghe] and Tallan [Wright] put on a 100-run partnership. Both were around the 50 mark at tea. CJ then made about 60 runs off the first six overs after tea.”
Jayasinghe made 104 with Wright chipping in with 76.
Despite posting such a big total, Kent wasn’t completely happy with the innings, with the side not batting out the day.
It meant the Clubbers had to face two overs, which was something the Kangaroos had wanted to avoid.
The Kangaroos were expecting Clubbers star and former Victorian cricketer Will Sheridan to open the batting, as he’s unavailable for day two.
He didn’t disappoint – Sheridan smashed 45 runs from 12 balls.
The Clubbers will resume at 0-45.
“He is a very good player and we knew what was coming,” Kent said. “We tried to bat the overs out so he wouldn’t get a bat.
“They got two overs to bat and had two good overs. The chase is now down to 280 odd.”
Kent said the Kangaroos remained confident of getting the win, which would help cement their spot in the top four and open up the opportunity for a top-two finish.
Besides his injury, Kent said the side was looking at full strength. Wright is set to captain the side in Kent’s absence.
“We’re still looking to finish top two, but we’re more worried about getting our form back to where it was,” Kent said
“Last season, we made the grand final and didn’t finish in the top two. We’re not far away from where we need to be.”
In other matches, Tullamarine was bowled out for 183 against Strathmore.
Strathmore will resume at 2-37.
