By Ewen McRae
A heartbreaking late order collapse has seen Keilor slip to its second loss of the Victorian Turf Cricket Association season on Saturday.
Chasing Seddon’s 5-195 in the senior division, Keilor needed just seven runs from the final nine balls of the day, and with two wickets in hand looked like taking its first points of the year before disaster struck.
Shafraz Mohamed, who had hit two beautiful boundaries to bring Keilor within sight of victory, was caught trying to find the fence in the penultimate over, before wicketkeeper Chetan Arjun was bowled by Damith Priyadarshana with three balls to spare and just five runs needed for the win.
Photo Gallery: Keilor vs Seddon
Keilor captain Daniel Stavris said he was proud of his side’s effort, but some mistakes at crucial times cost them the win.
“It was a good effort, but you don’t get six points for a good effort,” Stavris said.
“We were always under a run a ball, so I always thought we had it under control, but we just panicked a little bit, I thought, and lost wickets at the wrong time.
“We knew if we kept wickets in hand we’d win, we got bowled out so we lost. We’ve got an inexperienced kid at 11, and two experienced blokes ahead of him, so they probably needed to get us over the line and they couldn’t quite get there.”
Earlier, Keilor took control of the contest with three early wickets, as Arkii Van Wills (0), Priyadarshana (12) and Ben Speake (1) all fell cheaply to have the visitors in early trouble at 3-17.
From there, Duleeka Thisakuttige and Liam Braithwaite were able to stabilise the innings, with their 129-run stand giving Seddon a defendable total.
Braithwaite looked right at home when he got to the crease, with his 70 coming off just 79 balls, while Thisakuttige anchored the remainder of the innings to be unbeaten on 85.
In reply, Keilor lost Luke Delbridge for a duck early when Chris Sole disturbed the timber, but it was able to settle the innings with a succession of handy partnerships.
Nathan Beever (41), Stavris (14) and Upal Bandara (22) all got good starts, but it was Kaushal Lokuarachchi who looked like giving the hosts the win, with his whirlwind 59 coming off just 48 balls.
Sole (2-33) got the crucial wicket of Lokuarachchi, while Hayden Dryiski (3-40) was crucial through the middle and later part of the innings before the late drama.
Stavris said his side was not far off breaking through for a win this season.
“It was pleasing not to lose wickets in clumps, cause that’s been a bad habit of ours in recent years,” he said.
“I think if we improve our fielding, a bit of our bowling through the middle and just staying calm under pressure, we’ll go alright.
“We’re looking forward to Yarraville Club this week, they’re 0-2 as well so it’s a big game for both clubs.”
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