Taylors Hill got summer off to a perfect start on Saturday, picking up wins in both grades to kick-start its Western Suburbs Churches and Community Cricket Association season.
The first XI had a good day with the bat, taking on Rockbank in the A.E. Lowe Shield.
They put on 172 from their 35 overs, and while many batsmen got starts, the innings was built around Vijay Verma.
Verma hit six boundaries, two over the fence, on his way to a match-winning 55 runs.
While Taylors Hill was dismissed with five balls left in the innings, the total proved too much for the visitors to chase down.
Rockbank lost regular wickets on its way to 8-155 at the close of play.
Davinder Singh took a few hits with the new ball, but also took important wickets, finishing 3-32 off seven overs, while Jagdeep Singh Baath (3-26) was also important in the win.
Taylors Hill was even more emphatic with its second XI, which dominated the Tasman Smith Shield clash with St Johns, heading home with a 54-run victory.
While the Taylors Hill opening batsmen made just four runs between them, number three, Ankit Babbar, soon had the game back in control with a free-wheeling 60 that included 13 boundaries.
The feast or famine mentality of the home side continued as Chengappa Ballachanda and Ravichandra Pantulu both made ducks … but then skipper Tarun Chhimwal smashed his way to 54 (42 of which came in boundaries), and Ravi Shankar rounded out the innings with an unbeaten 39.
With just three batsmen reaching double figures, and five failing to trouble the scorers, the final score of 191 was a fantastic result.
It would prove far too good for St Johns, which lost regular wickets throughout its innings, which ended with dismissal for 137 after 27 overs.
Chhimwal was again important with the ball as he grabbed 3-43 early in the innings, while Babbar backed him up with 3-24. Varinder Sohi (2-10) and James Chedalavada (2-9) rounded out the best performers with the ball.
Both sides now move into two-day mode, with the first XI hosting West Melbourne Cricket Club, and the second XI travelling to play Rockbank.
Ewen McRae
