If the first 11 rounds is a guide, the monopoly held by Pascoe Vale Central and Kealba-Green Gully over the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association’s top-level Luscombe Shield looks set to continue this summer.
Those two powerhouse clubs have shared the past three premierships, with defending champions Centrals topping this season’s ladder. Gully, back-to-back premiers in the previous two seasons, runs a close second at this late point in the season.
The best of the rest appears to be third-placed Sydenham Hillside.
The Storm moved a step closer to sealing a finals berth with a 71-run thrashing of fifth-placed Buckley Park in a one-dayer at Hillside Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
It trails the top two sides by just eight points, but you’ll not find Storm captain Sanahasa Fernando making bold predictions about his side challenging for a home final, let alone talk about finals.
“I have a really young side,” he told Star Weekly. “They love winning, the dressing room’s happy and everything’s going well.
“But I’m not making big calls. I’m trying to have the boys performing consistently every single Saturday, and I look at it match by match.”
After losing the first three games of the season, Sydenham Hillside has been on a roll lately, winning six and losing just once in the past eight matches. The Storm’s resurgence has been led by batting maestro Brody Psaila, who ticked over to 402 runs at 50 to lead the batting aggregate for the competition.
But Saturday’s win over Buckley Park shows the Storm is not overly reliant on one or two individuals.
It had five players make 20 or more, with Fernando leading the way with 38 not out in the Storm’s total of 6-173.
There were six individual wicket-takers – and two poles went to each of quick Liam Borthwick (2-25) and spinners Malshan Gunasinghe (2-12) and Ameya Naik (2-10) – when Buckley Park replied with 102.
“It was a big win,” Fernando said. “It means the gap is getting bigger [between the Storm and the clubs outside the top four] so we have a better chance of making the finals now.”
The Storm’s finals credentials will be put to the test when it visits fourth-placed Gladstone Park over the next two Saturdays .
Meanwhile, Kealba-Green Gully ushered in the new year with a hard-fought 25-run win over Gladstone Park.
The Cougars were rolled for 126, but four wickets each to Mitchell Eccles and Evan Long routed the Kookaburras for 101.
Burnside Springs made a healthy 8-197, but Strathmore Heights bettered that with 7-199 with 20 balls to spare.
