Sanka Abeyruwan has produced a break-out knock for Hoppers Crossing in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division.
The Sri Lankan import arrived in the pre-season with enormous batting talent, but expectations were tempered by his youth and inexperience.
The 19-year-old’s Saturday innings of 83 led the Cats to a competitive 240 against Strathmore on day one at
Syd McGain Oval.
“We tend to forget that he’s still only 19 and living in a foreign country,” Cats president Steve McNamara said.
“You can see the kid has enormous ability and he’s shown it in a number of starts that he’s a class player. He just needed that opportunity to spend a bit of time in the middle and understand the Australian conditions.”
Abeyruwan has produced sporadically for the Cats. Three of his four previous innings were scores of 20s and he has taken a wicket in every game.
The all-rounder went to another level to play a crucial role with the bat for the Cats.
“He was very classy,” McNamara said. “He had bowlers coming at him pretty hard through the middle stages and worked through that and continued to pile on some runs.”
The Cats’ openers, player-coach Darrel Brown (27) and youngster Cameron Nicol (31), laid a solid platform.
Abeyruwan cashed in on the older ball and tiring bowlers, with support coming from the middle to lower order: six of the last seven batsmen reached double figures.
McNamara is confident his bowlers can get the job done on Saturday and stay in touch with the top four.
“It’s a double-point game absolutely [with Strathmore sitting two spots above them on the ladder] … it’s certainly a must-win game.”
Strathmore was 0-7 in reply at stumps.
In north A1, Werribee Centrals (1-20) are in a strong position against Haig Fawkner (119). New-ball operators Aaron Edrich (3-24) and Sam Crea (2-25) had the batsmen at sixes and sevens before third-change Azif Mohamed swooped to take 3-7.
In west B1, Seabrook posted 9-203 on the road against St Bernard’s after a middle-order revival was sparked by Dilip Sarkhell (55).
Wyndhamvale (158) picked up two important late wickets against Deer Park-Ardeer (2-18) as honours were shared on day one at Honour Avenue.
A week after it was bowled out for 28, Point Cook delivered a much better 8-183 against Sunshine Heights at Saltwater Reserve.
