By Ewen McRae
Taylors Lakes was left to rue another poor bowling performance as it fell short in its sub district clash with Moorabbin at the weekend.
With the south-west First XI clubs facing off across Saturday and Sunday this round, the Lions’ trip across the city did not go to plan. It was set a huge total to chase, eventually falling 53 runs short on Sunday.
With Moorabbin racking up 6-324 declared on Saturday, Taylors Lakes president Rob Arnold said the bowlers struggled to hit the right areas.
“We’ve got a very young side, and they struggled big time,” Arnold said
“Just being consistent and bowling six good balls an over was a struggle, one or two loose balls an over was all it took and they were put away.
“We always thought we were a chance on day two, but someone needed to go big and unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
On Saturday, the Lions’ bowlers continued to struggle, unable to contain the rampant batsmen on their home deck.
A 98-run opening partnership made life difficult for Taylors Lakes, and it wasn’t until 18-year-old Sam Clark was introduced into the attack that they got the first breakthrough as Romain Grenville was bowled for 67.
Matt Stoupas (64) and Vishva Wijeratne (78) continued the pain for the Lions bowlers, putting on 101 for the second wicket before Nipun Sumanasinghe (2-62) was able to strike. With a strong platform, the lower order accelerated the scoring.
Karl Carver (69) struck the fourth 50 of the afternoon, and despite the best efforts of Clark and Sumanasinghe the hosts were able to declare late in the day.
Clark toiled hard in his 16 overs to finish with 4-66.
The Lions then had to face five overs before stumps. They lost an early wicket as Chris Marr (8) was caught behind after hitting a couple to the fence.
The visitors rallied on Sunday to post a 102-run partnership after the loss of night watchman Clark and opener Yannick Fernandes, with Lachlan Marr (47) and Nipun Sumanasinghe (64) giving the visitors a sniff.
What followed was a series of handy partnerships that all ended too early for the Lions faithful, with Jason Denny, Dilshan Kanchana and Vishesh Bansal all getting starts but falling short of the big score required.
The Lions were eventually dismissed for 272.
Arnold said his side was still a work in progress, but the wins would soon come.
“We’re knocking on the door, and we’re not far off,” Arnold said.
“We missed a couple of players this week, and with a young side we need every senior head we can.
“Our bowlers are letting us down a bit at the moment, but they’re learning and we’re developing as a group, so that’s a positive for the future.”
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