All hail King Chazzy

Rovers United Bruck’s Charith Perera was the star of the weekend, with the opening batter piling on 151 from 125 balls, including 24 fours and two sixes, to help the Hawks to a 201-run belting of rivals Wangaratta Magpies in their WDCA A grade encounter at WJ Findlay Oval on Saturday. After losing the toss, the Hawks posted 9/285 before rolling the Magpies for 84 off just 23 overs. Sent into bat in overcast conditions, the left-handed Perera stood up and punished any balls which strayed into his hitting arc – which, to be fair, is extensive. While his opening partner Luke Whitten fell for just seven, getting some glove on a rearing ball from Jarryd Wallace, Perera was joined in the middle by Jonty Oliver, and the duo put on a RUBCC first XI record partnership of 208 runs together. Oliver was content to play second fiddle as Perera put on a masterclass of power hitting and manipulating the field, shuffling around the crease to open up new angles of attack. Though starting slow, Perera soon put the foot down – it took him 30 deliveries to reach double figures, and another 29 to reach his half century. From there, he accelerated, combining clean ball-striking into gaps with sheer power, increasing his strike rate to bring up the century with a crisp boundary through the covers, 103 off 100 balls. But he wasn’t done – just two balls later, Perera stepped across his crease, got inside the line of the ball, and slog-swept the ball on one knee over square leg for a towering six. The expansive shot selection continued, with ramps down to the fine leg boundary, cross-bat slaps through point, drives and punches over the top of fielders no matter where they were placed. Oliver was playing his role to perfection, eventually bringing up his 50 off 76 balls – by which time, Perera was 139 off 115, and eventually 150 off 123. But all good things must come to an end – the ball after Perera’s 150, Oliver punched a ball to mid-on, set off for a quick single, but the gather and release from the fielder, as well as the direct hit, saw himself run out. With RUB 2/222 with less than 10 overs to go, the rest of the list was happy to tee-off, chipping in enough to see 285 on the board by the end of their 45 overs. Captain Matt Whitten said it was a privilege to witness such a dominant innings from Perera. “That’s an all-time A grade knock in everyone’s opinion who watched or saw the score, from the start he was just incredible, I’m pretty sure it was a chanceless 150 which is almost unheard of,” he said. “When you make 150 in our league, I don’t think anyone’s going to question your ability or how good your day was. “Chazzy was hitting the ball all round the ground, it was just incredible to watch. “It’s definitely the highest score for an A grade player in our side, it could even be for the whole club, it’s incredible. “Jonty also batted unreal, he just played second fiddle to Chazzy – when he got to 50 it was kind of like ‘oh, Jonty’s out there as well’. “I said at the start of the day if we can get 200 that would go a long way to us winning the game, and when a bloke makes 150 and another bloke makes 50-odd, then you only need a couple of other blokes getting 15 or 20 and you’ve easily got 280. “We lost a few wickets late trying to lift the run rate even more at the end, but once we’d already had over 200 on the board, that wasn’t really a concern.” With the Magpies needing to go at 6.4 runs an over for the entire innings, it was always going to be a tall order, but when Jacob Schonafinger and Ryan Barnes tore through the Magpies’ top order, seeing them flounder at 3/33, there was no way back for the visitors. Only four bowlers were required, with Barnes (4/31 off six) and Jeremy Wilson (4/18 off six) doing the most damage, while the Magpies’ top score was number nine batter Oscar Edwards’ 17 off 21. Barnes will spend the week on a hat-trick, having dismissed Edwards and Kye Williams in successive deliveries to close out the match in the 23rd over. “Ryan’s been fantastic at the top all year with the new ball, so when he got Cooper [Matheson, 12 off 18], that was a real nail in their coffin,” Whitten said. “I might have to pick when I bring him on to bowl, give him the best chance [of a hat-trick]. “We just kept bowling our good lines, and the wickets kept falling. “After six games, we’re 5-1, with obviously that small hiccup against Yarra. “If we continue our good form against Delatite, and go to the first turn having played everyone once at 6-1, I think we’re in a really good position to be going into the Christmas break and the rest of the season.”

All hail King Chazzy

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