VTCA: Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s star takes 16 wickets

A new face in the VTCA has produced one of the competition’s greatest individual performances with 16 wickets in a day. Here’s how it played out.

You’ll struggle to find a better bowling performance than what Julian De Zilva produced on Saturday.

In just his second game for Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s, the left arm spinner took 16 wickets in a day as his side romped to a monster VTCA win over Sunshine Heights.

He claimed all 10 wickets in the visitors first innings before finishing with 6-38 in the second dig.

Those figures were the best in a game in club history.

And you have to feel a little bit for vice-captain Rukshan Fernando who was the toast of day one after he hit a wonderful 162 runs from 212 balls to help his side post 6-365 from their 80 overs.

Lions captain Daniel Stavris said he was simply stunned by what he had seen.

“At training during the week, we were trying to come up with a figure that would mean Rukshan wouldn’t be man of the match and we settled on 15 wickets,” he said.

“We obviously weren’t expecting it to happen. Stephen Maulden actually said to me after his first two that he was going to get all 10. He was just a class above.

“I’ve seen nothing like it before. After we bowled them out the first time, he just grabbed the new ball and went again. When you’ve got someone who is capable of bowling from one end like that, it does make you think about how you’ll use him for the rest of the season.”

Julian De Zilva tore through the Sunshine Heights batting line-up.

Stavris said the club had worked hard to bring De Zilva to the club in the off-season thanks to his connection with Shasheen Fernando.

The pair played school cricket together in Sri Lanka.

And Stavris said he had immediately helped fill a want in the Lions’ outfit.

“At the end of last season, we sat down and said we wanted to target someone who could spin the ball away from the right handers,” he said.

“Even when we’re facing him at training, he’s difficult to get away. Based on everything we had seen, we knew he was going to be a handful. In the first game he took 3-14 off eight overs.

“I’m glad he’s on our side.”

The Lions have made an impressive start to the Division 3 season with two wins from two after winning the Division 4 flag last season.

Stavris said he had also been impressed by English wicketkeeper Tom Keast to start the season.

“I feel like we’re gelling really well as a team,” he said.

“The two new guys are probably in our top three players at the moment and that says a lot when you can strengthen a side that has just won a premiership.”

They’ll next face Point Cook in another two-day game starting on Saturday.