Things are tracking along nicely so far for Caroline Springs in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Roy Picone Shield.
Outside of one of their games being washed out, the Falcons have been dominant so far and sit atop the table.
On Saturday, they added another win on the board as they accounted for Keilor Park.
Falcons coach Ian Shattock said they were quite happy with how things were going along.
“We’re looking pretty strong at the moment,” he said. “We’ve had a few great performances but overall we are happy with how it’s going.”
Shattock said the biggest thing for the group was that everyone was contributing when they got their opportunity.
Their bowling line up has looked really strong.
“Gavin McCallum started really well with a 6fa and another good game,” Shattock said.
“The last couple of weeks Brandon [Mulheran] has bowled well and he bowled really well yesterday [Saturday].
“Our new opening bowler Kamran Safdar has been impressive the last couple of weeks and we’ve got a few spinners as well.”
It was the bowling group that set up Saturday’s win against Keilor Park.
The Devils were in trouble at 4-28 and then 5-50 but were able to bat through the overs and finish 7-129.
Shattock said they were pretty happy with restricting them to that total.
“The pitch flattened out and it became a bit easier to bat,” he said.
“The total of 130 is very chasable and we had a great start with five for not many.
“You have to expect them to stand up and preserve to get a score on the board.”
Safdar and Mulheran took two wickets each for the Falcons.
The Falcons were in trouble early in the run chase after losing two wickets early, including Farrukh Shahzad getting run out after falling over.
There was little trouble after that as they finished 2-133 in the 23rd over.
Salman Afridi top scored with 86 not out.
Shattock said they had been pleased with how the top order had batted so far.
The only downside was their middle order hadn’t really had a chance to spend some time in the middle.
“We haven’t got through the batting with it being one-dayers,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to actually getting some two day format to get the others a bat as well.
“Rukshan Fernando who was our best bat last season has only had one hit. He would love a bit more time in the middle.”
The Falcons now face Point Cook in a two-dayer starting on Saturday.
Shattock said it would be a different challenge.
“They are almost 80 per cent a new team,” he said. “They didn’t get a game yesterday [Saturday].
“They have some good players and it’ll be interesting to see how we go.”
In other matches, Melton South Royals lost to the Greenvale Kangaroos.
Meanwhile in senior division, Sydenham-Hillside beat Yarraville Club.
The Clubbers made 195, which the Storm chased down with nine balls remaining, finishing 7-199.
Anthony Alleyne top scored with 69.
