By Tara Murray
Westmeadows remains on top of the Victorian Turf Cricket Association division 1 north Tony Issacs Shield after a hard fought win against the Greenvale Kangaroos.
On paper, the match was top against bottom, but it didn’t seem that way on the day with the Kangaroos pushing the Warriors all the way.
Warriors captain-coach Tarek Moughanie admits that they didn’t bowl well, but were still able to come away with the points. “In the context of the season, there are home finals up for grabs, so this is huge,” he said.
“I don’t think we bowled really well and they batted well and took advantage of it.
“We have been averaging 25 extras a game since Christmas. That’s four extra overs we have to bowl a game, that’s another 40 runs to the total.”
The Kangaroos made 170 with contributors throughout the whole innings.
Alex Mellor top scored with 30 as four players scored
between 20 and 30. Jackson Smith, Chinthaka Jayasinghe and Rhys Gleisner took two wickets each for the Warriors.
The Warriors got off to a flyer with the bat and looked in control at 2-86.
They made hard work of it, but got the job done in the final over, finishing 8-172. “Our strength of batting throughout the whole order has been our strength,” he said.
“[Number nine] Glen Lambeth will bat at number seven in our two-day team. He has scored 139 runs this season without being dismissed.
GALLERY: Greenvale Kangaroos vs Westmeadows
“He scored his first 50 this season in the firsts in eight seasons.”
The star for the Warriors was Moughanie, who made 84 at the top of the order.
Moughanie leads the division’s batting, averaging more than 58 runs a game.
Jayasinghe has made the second most runs.
Moughanie said he was feeling really good at the moment.
“Sometimes luck goes your way,” he said.
“Hopefully the runs continue to flow. I’ve been focusing on playing high percentage shots.
“Mick from Optimal Health Chiropractic Westmeadows has also been doing a lot of work to keep me on the park.”
The win keeps the Warriors sitting on top of the ladder, with just three points separating the top four sides.
The Warriors now have a 15 point gap on fifth, so one more win could be enough to seal their finals spot.
The Warriors face second placed Glenroy this week. It’s one of three home games to finish the season.
“Hopefully we’ll win one of the last three games and guarantee a finals spot,” Moughanie said.
“Hopefully we can finish top two. “This week is huge, as whoever wins this game puts space on the other team.
“There are no gimmies in the run home and we still have a lot of improvement in us, and I’m excited by that.”
“We can beat anyone on our day.”
The Warriors are holding their $5000 reverse raffle on Sunday, with anyone welcome to attend
