Haisman Shield | Gallery | Central Park-St Brendan’s survive Tatura scare to remain undefeated

By Zac Standish

Dec 11, 2022

Still delivering: Ramadan Yze’s blistering second innings half-century led Central Park-St Brendan’s to a memorable victory. Photo: Aydin Payne Photo by Aydin Payne

Despite producing what coach Tyler Larkin described as its “worst bowling performance of the season”, Central Park-St Brendan’s’ batters came to the rescue to steer it to a gritty four-wicket win over Tatura on Saturday.

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The victory, the Tigers’ fifth straight to begin the campaign, was inspired by a blistering 64 off 56 by Larkin and an unbeaten 53 off 42 by the evergreen Ramadan Yze, as they chased down an imposing 221 in 43.2 overs.

This came after Tatura set the foundation for an almighty upset, compiling its first score of more than 200 since February 2021 on the back of handy contributions by Liam Scopelliti (49), Cooper Fawcett (40 not out), Rajvir Singh (40) and Blake Armstrong (35).

But the sign of a champion team comes from its ability to win ugly and, for Central Park-St Brendan’s, that pedigree shone through as it absorbed the pressure and catapulted itself into top spot on the Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield ladder.

Steaming in: Central Park-St Brendan’s’ Dwain Vidler. Photo by Aydin Payne

“We probably had our worst day of the season with the ball and in the field as well and, add in there they had their best day, and it ended up being a real grind for us,” Larkin said.

“It was good to show some fight with the stick again, the bat has probably saved us the last two games, getting us home against these lower-ranked teams.

“We’ve certainly got some work to do and we’re well aware of that, but to come away with the points yesterday was pleasing.”

Steady defence: Raj Sing was a standout in the loss for Tatura. Photo by Aydin Payne

Winning the toss on a glorious day at Deakin Reserve Tatura captain Daniel Coombs had no hesitation in batting first on a picture-perfect wicket.

Get around me: Central Park coach Tyler Larkin celebrates a wicket with skipper Brendan Scott. Photo by Aydin Payne

And despite losing their captain early the Bulldogs took full advantage of the conditions as Scopelliti, Armstrong and Singh got going to have them in prime position at 2-130.

After a wayward start the Tigers did peg back the situation briefly, with skipper Brendan Scott (2-25) and Keiran Hogeboom (2-36) combining nicely to inspire a mini Tatura collapse of 4-39.

Pushing hard: Tatura’s Blake Armstrong takes a quick single. Photo by Aydin Payne

But some late fireworks by Fawcett swung the game back in the visitors’ favour, with his 40 off 32 lifting them to an imposing 6-221.

“Our lengths were just far too inconsistent,” Larkin said of his team’s bowling performance.

“It was either too short or too full and we bowled something like 15 wides which isn’t us, so we need to give ourselves a bit of a kick up the butt in that department ahead of Waaia next week.”

Needing a strong batting effort to dig themselves out of a first innings hole, the Tigers started well courtesy of a classy 35 by Scott at the top of the order.

Sending them down: Tyler Larkin comes in to bowl. Photo by Aydin Payne

Larkin then joined in on the act, proving why he is the competition’s form batter with an elegant half-century to have his team in pole position.

The Tatura bowlers battled hard to curb the Tigers’ class, however, with Singh once again standing up with two crucial middle-order wickets to keep the dream of an upset alive.

But when the game was there to be won, it was no surprise to see Yze rise to the occasion, with the veteran making up for a quiet day in the field with a scintillating unbeaten half-century to see Central Park home with 15 balls to spare.

Watchful: Tatura’s Raj Singh showcases his strong defence. Photo by Aydin Payne

“You just don’t write off champions like that and one thing he definitely hasn’t lost is his competitive appetite,” Larkin said of Yze’s match-winning knock.

“When he comes in with runs for us to get more often than not he’ll get us home and yesterday was another great example of that.”

THE GAME

Central Park-St Brendan’s 6-222 (Tyler Larkin 64, Ramadan Yze 53 not out, Brendan Scott 35, Rajvir Singh 2-40) d Tatura 6-221 (Liam Scopelliti 49, Cooper Fawcett 40 not out, Rajvir Singh 40, Brendan Scott 2-25)

STAR PLAYER

Ramadan Yze (Central Park-St Brendan’s): It was once again vintage Yze at Deakin Reserve. The veteran used every ounce of his experience to post a blistering half-century to close out proceedings, proving he is far from done at Haisman Shield level. An innings that included seven fours and one six, there is arguably no more valuable player in the competition with bat and ball.