Premier Cricket: Ruwantha Kellepotha takes a bag of five for Casey South Melbourne

Swans coach Will Carr says he hopes his leg-spinner Ruwantha Kellepotha gets another Victorian Second XI appearance soon.

Ruwantha Kellepotha after his five-wicket haul for Casey South Melbourne on Saturday.

Ruwantha Kellepotha turned the ball, and the match.

In fact, it took less than five overs for the Casey South Melbourne leg-spinner to run through the best of Kingston Hawthorn’s batting in the Round 13 Premier Cricket match at Casey Fields on Saturday.

Chasing 8-247, the Hawks made a bold start through veteran Ramnett Dhindsa and young Prajay Paramesh.

They had put on 38 with some stylish stroke play before Kellepotha intervened.

He had Dhindsa (16) caught behind, had Paramesh (36) superbly caught by Jackson Fry, bowled No 3 Thaveesh Attanayake (3) and No 4 Matt Vorbach (0), and trapped Hawks captain Shorye Chopra (2) LBW as he unwisely attempted a sweep.

It gave Kellepotha 5-7 and the Swans control of the match.

The Hawks had slumped to 5-60, but they showed fight to get to 209.

Wicketkeeper Joel Lewis, an improving cricketer, and Ashish Matthews took their team a lot closer than Casey South Melbourne would have wanted, putting on 64.

And they did it with good batting, as former Test man Damien Fleming observed as he watched on from the boundary.

Luke Manders batting for Casey South Melbourne. Picture: Valeriu Campan

But Jackson Fry returned to have Matthews (37 off 37 balls) caught behind and claimed Lewis (64 off 91 balls) and Prateek Patil (16) to finish off the Hawks and collect 3-37 off 9.3 overs.

It was an excellent second spell from the left-armer, who had taken a screamer of a catch at mid-on to remove Paramesh.

But it was Kellepotha’s day.

He walked off with 5-25 off 10 overs and now has 23 wickets for the season.

“He changed the game in the space of 4.3 overs,’’ Swannies coach Will Carr said of Kellepotha.

“He was outstanding again. He’s a special talent, isn’t he?

“Kudos to the captain (Michael Wallace) for bringing him on. He went bang, bang, bang, bang and bang.’’

Kellepotha was a surprise selection for the Victorian Second XI earlier in the season and did well with ball and bat.

Carr said he hoped the Vic selectors gave the first-season Swan another game soon.

“There’s not a better leg-spinner running around in Premier Cricket,’’ he declared.

Swans opener Ashley Chandrasinghe negotiates a delivery as Kingston Hawthorn keeper Joel Lewis watches on. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Wallace continued his strong season with an innings of 73 off 75 balls, putting away 7 fours and 2 sixes.

Wallace hasn’t hit a century in 2021-22, but he’s gone past 400 runs and is averaging 37.

“There’s still time left for him to do that,’’ Carr said of the absence of a three-figure score on the skipper’s run chart.

“As a leader he’s been outstanding. That should be acknowledged as well.’’

Luke Shelton blasted 37 not out of 27 balls as the Swans gave 250 a nudge.

They also gave a debut to 18-year-old Devlin Webb, a former Australian Under 16 representative who crossed from Frankston Peninsula at the Christmas break.

Webb was run out for seven and took 0-18 off five overs of right-arm pace.

“He gave a good account of himself after some strong performances in the twos,’’ Carr noted. “He made some handy runs late in the innings and I don’t think he bowled a bad ball. He did a tidy job for us. He’s athletic in the field, too. He’s a good prospect.’’

The Swans are fifth on the ladder, three points behind fourth-placed Richmond, with three rounds remaining.