Tara Murray
Melton Centrals have already matched their points tally from last season just three rounds into the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Russell Pollock Shield.
After a tough couple of seasons, Centrals have been focused this season on trying to close the gap.
They got a confidence boosting win on Saturday against the Williamstown Congs in the first completed round of the season.
Centrals captain-coach Warren Haffenden firstly it was nice to finish a game and secondly to claim the points.
“To get a win early on is massive,” he said. “I was told that wins have been hard to come by, especially early on.
“We’ve got a couple of new guys and the older guys that have been there for a few years, have had some hard times.
“It was positive to see.”
Centrals made 260 on day one of the match.
Haffenden said they were happy with that total but would have liked a few more contributors.
Steve Robertson (114) and Maksudur Rahman (92) made most of the runs.
Haffenden said they were pretty confident of getting the wickets, but were unsure what the opposition would look like.
They restricted them to 9-115 as the Congs only had 10 players bat.
“It was definitely a bit of a surprise, a nice surprise,” he said. “Their seconds forfeited against us with not enough numbers and they had a couple of lower guys in their firsts.
“We still had to get them out.
Malith Nimanthaka, Haffenden and Kieran Bensley took two wickets each for Centrals.
Haffenden said early on they were still assessing the opposition and there’s a lot of unknown.
He said they were hoping to be more consistent.
This week they face Wyndham Vale in the first day of a two-dayer.
“We are doing what we can to close the gap,” Haffenden said. “We want to improve the consistency.
“Wyndham Vale had a win yesterday [Saturday]. We’ll see how we go against each other.”
Burnside Springs United had a bye.
Meanwhile in senior division, Sydenham-Hillside had a big win against Keilor.
After making 385 on day one, the Storm bowled Keilor out for 172.
Chetan Arjun top scored with 43 for the Blues on Saturday. Timothy Grech took three wickets for the Storm.
In the Roy Picone Shield, Caroline Springs had a disappointing loss to Gellibrand.
Chasing 167, the Falcons resumed at 3-18.
The Falcons were bowled out for 125 in the 63rd over. Rukshan Fernando played a lone hand with 66.
No other batter passed 13.
In Evans-Clark Shield, Melton South Royals beat Footscray Angliss.
