By Ewen McRae
A flurry of late wickets has Point Cook precariously placed in its Victorian Turf Cricket Association division 3 clash with East Keilor.
Point Cook ended the day on 3-18, after enduring an up and down day with the ball to roll the visitors for 229.
After East Keilor won the toss and elected to bat, the Point Cook bowlers were able to make early inroads as new ball pair Jaden Edmund and Sarwan Kumar were able to grab an early wicket each.
Edmund added a third wicket before East Keilor enjoyed a strong 83-run partnership between Adrian Hallal and Amila Sandaruwan, but when Aaron Whear was introduced to the attack the game began to change.
Whear knocked over Hallal for 36, and the visitors lost a steady stream of wickets through the middle of the day as Sandaruwan struggled to find a stable partner.
Sandaruwan eventually fell for 99 to the impressive Kumar, and a crucial late 44 from Robert Rutley gave the scoreboard a stronger look.
Photo Gallery: Point Cook vs East Keilor
Kumar (3-20 off 13 overs) and Edmund (4-74) were the standout performers with the ball, but disaster struck late in the day when Point Cook had to face six overs before stumps.
Owen Doolan and James Peterson both made ducks, while Karan Kalia was trapped in front for just 4 to leave the home side in early trouble.
Elsewhere, Seabrook was able to safely negotiate 13 overs late in the day, and will resume on 0-19 in its chase against Sunshine Heights.
While Seabrook was largely able to curtail the home side’s batsmen, an aggressive ton from Tim Mahoney turned the game towards the hosts, with his 107 coming off just 97 balls and featuring 10 boundaries and seven maximums.
Sunshine Heights was all out for 241 after 61 overs, before Seabrook closed out the day.
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