CCCA: Emerald batsman Amith Eranda blitzes 307no in District division

An Emerald batsman sporting a mohawk haircut and bright red shoes smashed 20 sixes on his way to 307 not out in a Casey Cardinia first XI match.

Amith Eranda walks off after making an unbeaten 307. Picture: Facebook

He smashed 20 sixes, 27 fours and an array of records.

Emerald master blaster Amith Eranda was the talk of the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association on Saturday after blitzing 307 not out off 139 balls in District division.

One of his sixes stood out; he launched a cover drive over the double-storey club rooms at Emerald, the ball thudding into a garden bed on the other side.

Sent in by Pakenham Upper Toomuc, Emerald racked up a record 4-554 off 80 overs.

Eranda, 33, has played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka and is in his first season with Emerald.

He said making a triple century was “like a dream”.

Sporting a Mr T mohawk haircut and bright red shoes, Eranda said his goal was to capitalise on a great start by Bombers skipper Owen Thorne, who made 101 off 121 balls.

Eranda went in at 2-106.

“Owen was settled there, already making runs,” Eranda said.

“I didn’t have pressure, I can go positive, that’s the difference.”

Eranda said it was his highest score, surpassing his previous best of 255no in a one-day match in Sri Lanka.

He said he was exhausted after the innings and spent Sunday “all day in bed”.

“I was sore in back and leg,” he said.

Eranda said he’s enjoying playing at Emerald and wants to help the club win a premiership.

“It’s a good club, good people in there,” he said.

Amith Eranda brings up his triple century on Saturday. Picture: Facebook

Thorne said Eranda’s display of batting pyrotechnics was eye-popping and unforgettable.

“It was absolutely incredible the different shots he was playing,” he said.

“It’s probably something you’re never going to see again in your cricketing life.

“The bloke scores 360 around the ground, flicks over square leg boundary to cuts over backward point boundary, he was hitting a lot of sixes. It was entertaining for sure.

“When I went out he said, ‘what do you want me to do?,” Thorne said.

“And I said, ‘well, bat the day out’. And he did.

“I told him to, ‘play your game’, and we know his game is to hit the ball long and hard and play shots to where they don’t put the fielders which he did.”

Emerald president and first XI player Clinton Marsh likened the sound of the ball hitting Eranda’s bat to a gun shot.

“He also hit a couple over the road, he hit a house roof over the netting we’ve got up,” he said.

“They were going everywhere.

“People kept saying it was like a gun shot echoing around the ground.”

Eranda surpassed Emerald’s previous highest first XI score of 219 by Mitch Thomas and also bettered the club record of 248.

Emerald’s score of 554 was also a club record.

The all-time highest individual score in the West Gippsland association was 360, by Merinda Park’s John Cuthbertson, in 2017.