Parkers well placed in division one
by Samuel Laffy
Drouin vs Western Park (3/123)
Whilst all other contests were once again unable to take to the field due to inclement weather, Western Park and Drouin managed 35 overs of engaging cricket on Saturday, with the Warriors holding the advantage in the eyes of onlookers at the close of play.
Kade Burns – promoted to the opening position for the first time this summer – fell in just the second over of the afternoon (smarty caught by Thomas Brown off the bowling of Simon Gardiner), and Greg Munro fell soon after without scoring – spooning a catch to Troy Lehman.
However, Gavin Roulston (a typically brisk 47-ball 40) soon counterattacked and his ability to tick the scoreboard over and place the pressure back on the bowling attack was on full display.
Joel Batson, one of the more technically sound batters in the WDCA, opted for crease occupation upon recognising that his partners could accelerate scoring, and his gritty 29* from 113 balls anchored Western Park.
Sanjaya Gangodawila, on the other hand, adopted a far more aggressive approach, striking a multitude of boundaries on his way to a run-a-ball 42*.
A key feature of the Warriors innings was their capacity to nullify Thomas Brown (who went wicketless in 12 overs despite thoroughly testing the techniques of batters) and Brad Glover (0/37 from 8), as the duo have featured strongly with the ball in recent weeks for Drouin.
All up Western Park made their way to 3/123 at stumps, with the match interestingly poised heading into day two of proceedings.
As noted by Western Park's Sam Batson post-game, the Warriors were pleased with how they went considering they too would have elected to bowl if they had been successful at the toss.
"We would've bowled as they did, the wicket looked brilliant but mainly just to try to utilise the dark conditions and control the second innings a little bit more," he said.
"'Ganga' was brilliant, just on another level, hitting straight and his timing was out of this world. It'll certainly be interesting to see if 95 overs are enough for a result – we get an extra 15 to make up lost overs."
