For Greenvale Kangaroos, nailing their first win of the Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division season was a mixture of joy and relief.
Having struggled for much of the season, the Kangaroos stood strong with the bat to knock off Tullamarine, which has just one win itself.
A win didn’t look likely early on day two for the Kangaroos as they crumbed to 5-26, chasing 116.
But Kangaroos coach Warren Bonello was confident they still had enough batting to get the job done.
“It could have gone the other way,” he said. “At 5-26 there was a few nervous people around We were confident that we batted deep with Sammy [Kandanearachchi] at seven and then Matt [Bonello] at eight.
“We got a partnership between Trent [McGuire] and Sammy, and then Matt and Trent iced the game.”
The Kangaroos ran down the total for the loss of one more wicket, then hit out in a bid for quick runs.
Matt Bonello made the most of this opportunity by hitting 101 not out as the Kangaroos declared at 7-211.
Bonello said Matt’s century was remarkable.
“He hit his second 50 off 19 balls,” he said. “He had already brought up the winning runs by hitting a six.
“It makes up for his 99 run out in the game before. He’s been in some good form since Christmas after a slow start to the season due to a broken finger.”
The Kangaroos sent the Demons back in, hoping for an outright win.
But save for a brief period when they lost three wickets, the Demons looked in control to finish at 3-105.
The win was vital in the Kangaroos’ fight to avoid relegation. They are now eight and a half points clear of bottom-placed Demons after the weekend’s matches.
Bonello said getting another couple of wins in the last few rounds would be crucial to staying in the top division.
On Sunday, Greenvale faced Seddon in a one-dayer in a catch-up round.
The Kangaroos fell just short of a second win in two days with the match going down to the final overs.
Seddon got home by nine runs.
In the catch-up battle between bottom and top, Tullamarine lost to Yarraville Club.
Craigieburn secured an outright in north-west on Saturday.
Having claimed first-innings points on day one, the Eagles were out for 122 on day two.
PEGS made 7-196 in its second innings, with the Eagles getting the winning runs with ease and finishing on 3-132.
In north A1, Jacana was smashed by Caroline Springs on Saturday.
