Harper Sercombe
After a disappointing result last week, Taylors Lakes is back in the winners list, defeating Melton on Saturday in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association north-west.
Taylors Lakes fielded first and was very successful in doing so, bowling Melton out for 155 from 42 overs.
In the chase, Taylors Lakes was able to survive its early hiccups to get the runs just three wickets down, finishing on 3-156 after 38.2 overs.
“It was quite a convincing win, we gave them their chances, we dropped a few catches, there’s definitely room for improvement, but as a whole to chase it three down, we’re pretty happy at our end, it’s a good chase,” captain-coach Aamir Raza said.
“It was a fresh wicket, we thought winning the toss and bowling first would get some life out of it early, which we did. From that point on it got a little bit easier to bat on, it was still up and down, but we got to watch it for 42 overs, so we knew what it was doing before we got our chance to score the runs.”
With the ball Raza and Arafat Bhuiyan took three wickets each, while one went to both Melisha Deshapriya and George Pritchard, to go with the two run-outs.
“We know what a class bowler Arafat is and he showed that yesterday,” Raza said.
“Melisha bowled very well and he only got one wicket but he deserved more than that.
“I think it just showed that with our bowling line up there is no let off in terms of bowlers coming on.”
Raza was again strong in the chase making 62 opening the batting. He was able to bat in a 106 run partnership with Nilan Fernando, who finished on 66 not-out.
“Being 2-6, I had to put a little bit of responsibility on myself as coach and Nilan as a senior batsman to be able to see it off… It showed that we do have depth and we’re not just a one man team, it showed with Stef not getting many we could still chase a score,” he said.
Now ninth on the ladder and with red-ball cricket to come, Raza said he is maintaining a positive and hopeful attitude.
“We’re still in the chase for finals, it’s a very close race. I think we’re one win away from now,” he said.
“Red-ball probably suits our fast bowlers a little bit more, being able to bash away at a length… I think it plays into us, having time to bat rather than having to go a little bit harder in the one day stuff. We’re looking forward to it a lot.”
