It couldn’t have appeared a more straightforward equation for Katandra after an enormously successful day one of its round six Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield clash with Numurkah.
The Blues haven’t often given teams much to capitalise on with the bat, but after the Eagles soared to a more than healthy 234, there were no guarantees.
After a furious spell led by Seth Westley reduced the top half of Numurkah’s fearsome order to smithereens in a blistering display, the shellshocked visitor fell to 6-15 at stumps — and at that point, there were serious thoughts of a stunning outright.
Tim Arnel’s side had clearly been saving second-year import Ragu Aravinthan for day two, opting not to open with him and refusing to deploy him even as Westley and friends made puree of the line-up.
A seventh wicket mere minutes into the resumption of play on Saturday meant it was time to pull the trigger and, though all appeared lost and then some, Aravinthan would not go quietly.
It was a tremendously gallant showing out of the nine-hole, with the Englishman and Bailey Smith constructing a long-range, long-term stand that frustrated Eagle bowlers almost all day.
There was ultimately far too much to do on the scoreboard — and there’s every chance the boys in blue knew that — but Aravinthan’s unbeaten 85 restored plenty of pride as Katandra eventually scooped a 71-run win that seemed destined to be by more.
THE GAME
Katandra 234 (Hadleigh Sirett 50, Jedd Wright 46, Connor McLeod 5-53) d Numurkah 163 (Raguvaran Aravinthan 85*, Bailey Smith 47, Seth Westley 5-32)
STAR PLAYER
Seth Westley (Katandra): The early damage Westley was able to inflict proved mortal to Numurkah’s aspirations despite its valiant fightback on day two. The Englishman’s first five-for since arriving came in a clutch spot against formidable opposition.
Captain Ben Pedretti was never truly concerned by the Blues’ steady display on day two, adamant throughout that the points would eventually find their way to Katandra.
“Credit to them, as they fought back pretty well,” Pedretti said.
“We bowled pretty well, but the conditions were fairly batter-friendly, there wasn’t much in the wicket.
“They dug in and tried to take it to the end, but we were always in control of getting the result we were after.”
Understandably, there was a lot of credit attributed to the Eagles import for his brilliant spell to kill the contest from the word go.
“Seth started well today, getting a wicket in his first over to set it all up again,” Pedretti said.
“He bowled some really good spells through the day as well; most of the damage was done on day one, so we just took our chances.
“It was credit to our middle and lower order getting us set up as that’s huge in two-day cricket to put a decent score on the board.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge (of playing Kyabram). That’s what it’s all about, having a crack at good sides.
“They’ve got Kyle Mueller, obviously a star player of the comp and in a purple patch for the last 18 months, so we need to build pressure on him.”
