Numurkah continues to stake its claim as a premier offensive powerhouse in the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield, posting an 89-run thumping of Karramomus to remain unbeaten through the month of October.
Rather than the usual suspects with the bat, it was freshly arrived import James du Toit who smacked the Karramomus attack with significant effect, finding the rope 11 times as he mashed 78 off 72 balls.
Kody Jackson got the chance to open proceedings after Numurkah elected to bat and he delivered from the outset in reaching his maiden half-century for the campaign.
After setting an imposing 249 for Karramomus to chase, the bowlers got right to work.
THE GAME
Numurkah 6/248 (J. du Toit 78, K. Jackson 52, Z. Groombridge 2/34) d Karramomus 159 (J. Dhosi 55, R. Aravinthan 4/34, M. Grandell 3/25)
STAR PLAYER
Ragu Aravinthan (Numurkah): Aravinthan’s start to Haisman life has exited its initial turbulence, picking up his best figures on both sides of the game and locking in during a devastating middle-order bowling spell.
Skipper Tim Arnel removed both opening batsmen, though stern resistance emerged in the form of Jayden Dhosi, in at three to register his side’s first 50 of the season.
He would watch his partners drop like flies through the middle order, though, as Ragu Aravinthan and Mitch Grandell took scalps seamlessly in tandem.
Sharing seven of the 10 poles between them, including the vital wicket of Dhosi, Aravinthan and Grandell put the game to bed well before Karramomus eventually fell for 159.
Arnel sees big things ahead for his side.
“The whole innings was set up by the two openers, who made a really great partnership,” Arnel said.
“We just took the game away from them in the end.
“It was really encouraging and now we roll into next week as a game we’ve been looking out for and really want to win.”
Like top prospect Riley Dawson, who shifted from opening to plugging in at six, Arnel moved down the order to seven, with the changes designed to “give some other guys a bat”.
Aravinthan and fellow new man du Toit picked up more than enough of the load themselves with bat and ball, steering Numurkah to a straightforward win with the best bowling figures and most runs, respectively.
Arnel would rather not place excessive expectations on his pair of imports, though.
“We’re really trying to take a ‘whole club approach’, we want to get different blokes involved and have them firing at the right time,” Arnel said.
“(du Toit) has made a very impressive start, but when we get these guys over, we just want them to play their role in the team.
“If he makes a heap of runs, that’s a bonus for us, but playing his role is all we want, so we’re not putting pressure on him.
“We’ve got two really good imports here and we’re really lucky with the connections we have.”