Harper Sercombe
Things are beginning to ‘click’ for Point Cook in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association as it will bowl to collect its third win in a row on the weekend.
The Warriors decision to bowl first on Saturday against Glenroy to kick off the Roy Picone Shield round eight two-day clash paid dividends.
Wickets continually fell throughout the Glenroy innings in good bowling conditions, with just four batsmen making it to double digit runs as Glenroy was bowled out for 137.
Varinder Pal Singh and Krishan Kumar were the standouts of the Warriors’ bowlers taking 3-25 and 4-13 respectively.
Point Cook coach Carmine Conte said he was pleased with his teams’ bowling performance as his side began to grow confidence after an inconsistent start to the season.
“We’re very happy,” he said. “It was really, really pleasing. The boys performed pretty well, that’s a couple of games in a row of good performances. So it’s starting to click for us.
“They (Singh and Kumar) have been pretty good all year, and they’re starting to reap the rewards so we’re really happy.”
Dismissing Glenroy in just 68 overs meant time was left in the day for the Warriors to have a bat for nine overs. It seemed like it could be a dangerous period for the club with opener David Hicks losing his wicket after just three deliveries of his innings. However, Jashan Malhotra and Vishay Ramchander were able to keep their wickets and will resume next week at 1-9.
“The wicket started playing games with the new ball, but we survived the nine overs and it’s a new week next week,” Conte said.
“We’ll have to start again, but we’re quietly confident that we can get the runs, we’ve certainly got the batting depth so it should be alright.”
After playing through tricky batting conditions on the weekend, Saturday is forecast for a clear day, perfect for batting, which Conte said he is looking forward to.
“There were just persistent little spots of rain and as the day went on the sun came out and it was a good day,” Conte said.
“We’re definitely, definitely, definitely [excited to be batting in good weather].”
In other VTCA results, Werribee Centrals have already lost their two-day clash against Caroline Springs, after being bowled out for just 70.
Caroline Springs then piled the runs on, scoring at more than seven runs an over, getting them to 3-338 at stumps. The innings included two massive centuries from Chathura Rathanaweera Patabedige (124) and Damith Priyadarshana who will resume at 121 on Saturday.
In the Russell Pullock Shield, Wyndhamvale looks to be in a winning position against Melton Centrals when play resumes on Saturday.
After winning the toss and batting Wyndhamvale only managed to score 105 from 53 overs, with Jay Dolliver and Nathan Griffiths top scoring with 24. However, with the ball in hand, Wyndhamvale put itself back into a winning position taking 5-25 before stumps were called. Dolliver was the pick of the bowlers taking 3-9 in his 11 overs.
Centrals will need 81 runs for victory on Saturday.
