Young paceman James Leach stole the show for Sunshine in their Victorian Turf Cricket Association north A1 match on Saturday.
Leach ripped in with a new ball for the Crows, shattering the East Coburg top order, taking four of the opening five wickets to have the home side in desperate trouble at 5-11.
Easts had a mini revival, reaching 107 in 44 overs, but Sunshine had no worries passing the target.
The Crows finished the day on 2-124, pocketing first innings points with a day still to play, to pursue an outright result that could be so valuable when it comes to jostling for positions inside the top four.
Crows’ captain Troy Stone was amazed by his side’s ferocious start to the game.
“We went in trying to bowl them out as cheaply as possible, but having them 5-11 was beyond our wildest dreams,” he said.
“We can set targets now with our batting, and give ourselves a bit of a chance at an outright.
“We can dictate, be aggressive with the bat early, and attack with the ball, knowing that we’ve got ahead of them on the board.
“It’s a good position to be in.”
Leach was the talk of Sunshine on Saturday night.
The exciting youngster has been a menace to batsmen in the opening five rounds, but this was his first five-wicket haul of the summer.
“He had it swinging around a little bit and when you’ve got a bowler hitting the top of off-stump twice, you’re pretty happy as a captain,” Stone said.
“It was a really good performance from a young kid.”
Sunshine’s answer with the bat was swift and calculated.
After a slight hiccup with the loss of openers Sam Magnano and Aiden Elkington cheaply, the Crows wasted no time chasing down the target in the 36 overs that remained on the day.
Stone (73no) combined with Shehriyar Cuttlerywala (38no) to pick off the runs at a rate of 3.44 per over.
It was Stone’s first half century of the season after a number of positive starts.
Cuttlerywala will also be looking to raise the bat for the first time after falling one run short of a 50 earlier in the season.
“He’s a former junior who left and went to Altona,” Stone said.
“He’s came back to the club with James Leach this season and they’re really enjoying their cricket here with us.
“They’re getting opportunities to play first XI and they’re taking their chances.”
