Premier Cricket: Harrish Kannan and Michael Wallace’s historic partnership

Casey-South Melbourne coach Will Carr has sung the praises of two of his stars after they broke a long standing record in a stunning run chase against Melbourne.

Casey South Melbourne coach Will Carr can recall few better innings than that of Michael Wallace’s on Sunday.

In pursuit of Melbourne’s 6-335, the Swans skipper – combined with Harrish Kannan – delivered a century to savour.

Meeting at 2-21, Wallace (140) and Kannan (103) created Swans’ history by breaking the club’s third-wicket stand record with a precious 249.

Collating Wallace’s remarkable score with two crucial variables, Carr was full of praise for his left-hander.

“It was an outstanding innings, as you would expect from Wally, he was selfless in the way he really helped Harrish through,” he said.

“Harrish got stuck a couple times at different stages through his innings and Wally was able to help him through those patches by talking him through it and keeping the scoreboard ticking.

“The fact of the matter is Wally hasn’t had the best season with the bat, so he was probably feeling a little bit of pressure himself, so all of those things combined adds to how good his innings was.

“It was as good an innings you will see for all of those reasons and more.”

Kannan – Casey South Melbourne’s other centurion – broke through with his maiden ton, continuing not only his superb form but the trend of making runs when his side needs it the most.

“I won’t say it’s a monkey of his back, but it’s certainly something he can put behind him, sometimes the first one can be the hardest one to get,” Carr said of Kannan.

“To get that one yesterday – particularly under the circumstances – he’s come out at 1-10 after losing our state player, there was a state bowler bowling at him.

“He got hit in the head early in his innings, so to keep his composure through that early session when it was tricky with the new ball, was super impressive.

“It’s just another step in his development as a player and a person.”

Harrish Kannan is away with his maiden Victorian Premier Cricket century. Pictures: CM THOMAS PHOTOGRAPHY

An unbeaten 35 from wicketkeeper Devin Pollock was the final piece in the Casey South Melbourne puzzle, which chased the Demons score down in 93.1 overs.

While he believes his side wasn’t short of confidence before the famous win, Carr is now certain his group will walk a little taller after Sunday’s victory.

“To chase 330 is exceptional in anyone’s books … it ranks right up there with the wins I have seen while I have been at the club and certainly in its short history out at Casey Fields,” he said.

“We have been playing some pretty good cricket, we have had some narrow losses and had some off days that have cost us, but overall, our season’s been pretty steady.

“We have had some really good individual performances with challenges of not having (Ruwantha) Kellapotha, (Ashley) Chandrasinghe and even Kannan available every game.

“We feel if we play somewhere near our best, it will challenge anyone in the competition.

“We take great confidence out of the weekend, not that we were low on confidence anyway, any win helps with confidence but a run chase like that certainly puts an extra pep in the step.”

Casey South Melbourne will now travel to Bill Lawry Oval to take on Northcote in its late dash for the top eight.