Sunshine flooded Saturday's skies and with a light breeze floating through, conditions were primed for some high-quality Cricket Shepparton action.
The Blues hosted a young and talented Karramomus side at Numurkah Showgrounds for round five.
Karra won the toss and elected to bat and the Blues started strong, restricting the Bloods to 2-36 after 15 overs.
Numurkah captain Tim Arnel said his opening bowlers Matt Cline and Connor McLeod were on fire to start the match.
“Our opening combination with Matt Cline and Connor McLeod — he has really stepped up this season — it is a pretty formidable opening combination, they bowled really good to start the match, pretty much bowling fourth stump the whole time," Arnel said.
“That helped set us up for our middle over bowlers.
“Ben Beaumont, his first proper spell, he did quite well and took three wickets, (Raguvaran Aravinthan) got three as well.
“Riley Dawson has been our best bowler all year and he did his job as well.”
Despite a slow start, Karramomus fought back and posted a competitive total of 9-168 after its 45 overs.
Zavier Davidson starred with the willow as his blistering 37 runs off 25 balls (three boundaries and two sixes) top-scored for the Bloods.
Numurkah made a positive start to its run chase, with in-form batters Aravinthan (32 runs off 37 balls) and Dylan Grandell (55 off 69) putting the Blues in a strong position.
Middle-order batter Bailey Smith then brought Numurkah home with an impressive 45* from 67 balls.
THE GAME
Numurkah 6-173 (Dylan Grandell 55, Bailey Smith 45*, Zane Newbound 2-28) d Karramomus 9-168 (Zavier Davidson 37, Zac Groombridge 29*, Raguvaran Aravinthan 3-26)
STAR PLAYER
Raguvaran Aravinthan (Numurkah): The Blues’ star all-rounder is on a heater to start the season. Aravinthan was a menace with the Kookaburra in his hand, jagging three wickets before getting his side off to a strong start with the bat as an opener. Is fourth in the competition for runs scored and has taken seven wickets this season.
Arnel said he had loved what he had seen from his top-order willow-wielders this season.
“Conditions were really good, the outfield was fast, so we were pretty confident we could chase down their target,” he said.
“Our top-order bats, led by Dylan Grandell, who is in career-best form, he is leading the way with the bat.
“He is batting so maturely and sensibly and he got another 50-odd.
“Bailey Smith is a young bat, 21 or 22 (years old), he had a year off with an ACL surgery.
“He had a big pre-season and he is getting better each week and he led us through to win the game basically.”
With five pelts attached to their belts, the Blues move onto one of the top teams in the league in round six as they face Katandra in the opening two-day match of the season.
Arnel said he and his troops were excited by the prospect of proving themselves at Katandra Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
“We know the next few games will be a lot more difficult for us,” he said.
“We will have to be on our game to beat Katandra this week.
“We have had a big focus on when we are batting, once we are in we want to stay in and go big.”
While Numurkah will be hoping to make it a 6-0 start next round, Karramomus will host Kyabram as the Bloods hunt for their first victory of the season.
