Sameera secures big win for Imps

By Sam Watson

• A Grade, Division 1

SUMUDU Sameera has secured a big win for the Leongatha Imperials, dominating Wonthaggi with the ball to get his side above them on the A1 ladder.

Club batted first at East Campus, and they were immediately put under pressure by opening bowler Lachie Wright who dismissed three of the top four batters.

Ryan Thomas worked his way to 20, but after he was gone, Sameera wreaked havoc on the middle order, taking 4/15 off seven overs and soon they were all out for 98.

Dimithri Perera blasted a quick 34 to kickstart Leongatha’s innings and then with an unbeaten 36 from Luke Rogers and an unbeaten 29 from captain Jack Ginnane the game was over.

It took just 15.3 overs for the Imps to pass Wonthaggi’s total, giving them a big percentage boost and leapfrogging their opponents into third spot.

Koony lose crucial clash with Nerrena

KOONWARRA L/RSL has dropped a match they would’ve been expecting to win, going down to Nerrena by five wickets at Leongatha Recreation Reserve.

With a win keeping them in third spot, Koonwarra would’ve liked their chances against the lowly placed Nerrena, but their innings didn’t start the way they were hoping, falling to 2/26.

Captain Ben Perry somewhat recovered the innings with a 24 and Sam Sperling notched 20 before being run out, but the rest of the side struggled, and they finished at 9/131.

Captain Mitch Clark was instrumental with the ball again, taking 3/12 off eight overs and then it was David Baldi who did all the work with the bat for Nerrena.

He made 63 off 76 balls, doing most of the damage and Nerrena eventually passed Koonwarra with a few overs to go, just five wickets down.

Stingrays lose tussle with Town

INVERLOCH’S inability to defend solid totals was once again highlighted on Saturday, falling to Leongatha Town by five wickets after making nearly 200.

The Stingrays were in great touch early on Scorpion Park, with Jacob Strickland 26 and Dave Newman 56 opening the batting.

Andrew Donohue 32 and Walter Taberner 39* then got going but the remainder of the line-up couldn’t add late runs, which would prove to be vital, as they finished on 7/197.

Captain Amila Ratnaike proved to be vital with the ball, taking 4/28 off seven overs, but he wasn’t satisfied with just a good day with the ball.

After Sahan Perera made a quick 26, Ratnaike blasted 74* off 71 balls and his 97-run partnership with Ben Hanrahan 46 got Town past Inverloch with eight balls remaining.

Sharks escape shaky start against Diggers

OMK came awfully close to causing the biggest upset of the LDCA season on Saturday, but ladder leaders Phillip Island were able to keep their cool when it mattered.

Phillip Island batted first at Outtrim Recreation Oval and when they got to 2/6 an upset looked right on the cards.

However former Diggers Daniel Mock 48, Tom Keily 25 and Adam Miller 21 steadied the ship, along with Shiran Rathanayake 31 and Jarrod Black 31.

After their shaky start, Phillip Island got to 182, with their last wicket falling on the last ball of the 40 over innings.

But OMK also struggled early in their innings, falling to 2/7 and this time it was Jacob Lamers 25 and captain Ryan Williams 21 who recovered the innings.

The runs really started flowing when Noel Creed 53 arrived at the crease, but opening bowler Simon Kirton knocked him over, as he did with three other batters, finishing with 4/30 off seven.

After Creed was gone, OMK’s tailenders couldn’t quite get the job done and they fell 22 runs short at 8/160 after 40 overs.