By Lance Jenkinson
Point Cook has emerged as title front-runner in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association division 3 with two rounds to play.
The Warriors won both their matches at the weekend in convincing fashion to move into top spot, taking advantage of a slip-up by Sunshine in the process.
Now riding a four-game winning streak, Warriors coach Aaron Whear could hardly fault how his side is tracking.
“Delighted with how we’re going, absolutely,” he said. “When you’re 10-1 at this point in the season, things have been going pretty well.”
Point Cook edged two points clear at the top with an eight-wicket obliteration of bottom side Footscray United in a one-day game at Saltwater Reserve on Sunday. The Warriors were surfing a wave of confidence stemming from their three-wicket win over Williamstown Imperials a day earlier.
Footscray United was dismissed for a mere 84 in 38.4 overs.
Teams traditionally have three or four pacemen and supplement them with one or two spinners.
The Warriors are doing things differently, utilising four spinners and two seamers.
“It’s a nice little mix of bowlers that we’ve got,” Whear said.
The four spinners – Whear (off-spin), James Doolan (off-spin), Gurbaksh Khaira (left-arm orthodox) and Karan Kalia (leg-spin) – offer contrasts that are working for Point Cook.
The quicks – West Indian import Jaden Edmund and new recruit Sarwan Kumar – are in the competition’s top 15 bowlers. They showed their qualities with three wickets apiece in the Footscray United rout.
Point Cook’s run chase was looking shaky at 2-9 with early dismissals of Harpreet Singh and captain Brett Talbot.
But the Warriors steadied through Kumar (37no) and Scott Maloney (26no) and passed the target with 20 overs to spare.
“Singh and Talbot have opened the batting all year and they’ve been real standouts for us,” Whear said. “They’ve missed out today, but it was nice to have the slack picked up by Scotty Maloney and Sarwan.”
Point Cook will meet third-placed Sunshine Heights in a finals-like game in a two-dayer starting on Saturday.
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