Sunshine gun Kaushal Lokuarachchi dominates with bat and ball
Sunshine’s gun allrounder Kaushal Lokuarachchi gave spectators some pre-Christmas fireworks in one of the most destructive tons of the season.
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The oohs and aahs would have made passers-by think there were fireworks at Dempster Park on Saturday.
It wasn’t Christmas or New Year but Sunshine’s gun allrounder Kaushal Lokuarachchi smashing ball after ball to the boundary.
The Sri Lanka Test cricketer produced one of the most destructive centuries of the VTCA Division 1 season, 108 from about 40 balls, as the Crows beat Seddon by eight wickets.
Lokuarachchi brought up triple figures in just the 12th over with opening partner Sam Magnano on just seven.
He’d earlier taken match-best figures of 4-37 as the Dockers posted 7-203.
Sunshine captain-coach Troy Stone was in awe.
“When Kaushal’s in one of those moods you can’t bowl to him anywhere, you can’t set fields and he just manipulates were he wants to hit the ball,” Stone said.
“It was outstanding, he’s done it all year, that’s the way he plays – he backs himself in and it’s a pleasure to watch.
“He brought up his hundred in the 12th over, it would have been 40 balls max.
“If there was 300 on the board I’m sure Kaushal would have backed himself in to bat longer and deeper.”
Lokuarachchi is now the No.1 batter and bowler in the competition.
He has 414 runs at an average of 82, with a century and four 50s, as well as 16 wickets at 11.81 in six outings.
Airport West’s Daniel Salpietro isn’t far behind on 400 runs while Deer Park Lachie Fitzgerald has 14 wickets.
Stone is the next best Crow with 166 runs while Charith Fernando has eight scalps.
Aman Khan made the breakthrough, dismissing Lokuarachchi, but Magnano (50 not out) and Stone (34 not out) finished the job with four overs to spare.
“Sam got 50 not out and I chipped in at the end, it was a great batting performance,” he said.
“Sam got 49 against Airport West and a half century (on Saturday), he plays the perfect anchor role, he can bat the entire 40 overs and he’s done it perfectly.
“I’ve started off OK, getting 30s and that sort of stuff, a not out this time of year helps the average.”
Last season’s grand finalists sit 4-2 heading into the Christmas break, inside a hotly contested top four.
A strong win over Airport West St Christopher’s was followed by a disappointing defeat to Tullamarine in last weekend’s double-header.
Stone said the club had wanted to finish the year strongly and will look to launch when two-day cricket returns in the new year.
“We’re 4-2 now, we wanted a big win before Christmas and we’ve got that,” he said.
“We’re set up for after the break to attack some two-day cricket and hopefully lead into some finals.
“We want to give ourselves the best chance, who knows what’s happening with the floating fixture – we don’t even know who we’re playing in the next round – but if we bring our best we think we’re competitive against everyone.
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“We’ll come back on the Thursday (January 6) just to give everyone a decent break.
“We played Saturday and Sunday last week and a T20 on Tuesday, there are some sore bodies out there, I know I’m feeling the pinch a little bit.”
The VTCA is yet to announce the post-Christmas fixture.
A one-day game is scheduled for January 8 before two-day games return on January 15-22.
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