A 100-run middle order partnership and a wagging tail gave Caroline Springs a competitive total in its Victorian Turf Cricket Association clash with Sunshine on Saturday.
On day one of the North A1 clash, Caroline Springs struggled for runs early in the day after winning the toss and batting.
The top three batsmen contributed just 17 runs between them, but the game started to turn in its favour when middle order pairing Gayashan Weerasekara and Nadeera Thuppahi came together.
They put on 105 together to steady the ship, and when Weerasekara fell for 59 the scorecard was looking far healthier.
Thuppahi went on to post 71 before he departed, and some handy runs from the lower order pushed the scored up to 230 before the visitors were dismissed.
A quick-fire 25 from number 10 Lucas Blackman gave Caroline Springs a late boost, while Sunshine bowler Sudesh m Nand toiled hard all day and finished with five wickets.
Sunshine had to face 11 overs late in the day and was unable to get through unscathed as it closed the day on 1-19.
Elsewhere, Sydenham-Hillside will resume on 1-15 this week in pursuit of Flemington’s 162, after a good day in the field.
After winning the toss and sending the home team in, Sydenham-Hillside put in 70 tight overs to keep the total to a manageable level.
Adil Imran was particularly stingy, finishing with 3-13 off 13 overs, while Kaluwahandi Prasad got the pick of the figures as he finished with 4-45 off 15 overs. Warren Hackney was bowled late in the day as Sydenham-Hillside faced 10 overs.
In the North West division, a five wicket haul to Tom Langley-Dunn helped St Albans into a strong position in its clash with Airport West St Christophers. Langley-Dunn collected 5-26 off 17 overs as the home side rolled the visitors for 129, before they closed on 1-34.
Sunshine United is in a strong position in its match with PEGS, thanks to Sangaran Nandhalal’s 80 in the middle order. United skipper Neeten Chouhan made 49. Some valuable contributions from Thomas Duxson (24) and Karandeep Singh (23) pushed the score to 244.
