GMC | BLU captain crunches a superb century on day one

Having been sent in to bat, BLU was off to a shaky start as opener Liam Hamilton was dismissed for seven by Sam Colvin, which brought Chakabva to the crease.

The Zimbabwean international was in imperious form, slashing 22 boundaries and causing havoc for the L-G bowling attack, which seemingly had no answers to the onslaught, with the impressive total coming from 139 deliveries.

“It felt really good. It was a good deck and just a good day, it felt good from the moment I sort of walked in,” Chakabva said following his outrageous effort.

“Being a two-day game as well I had plenty of time, so I just thought, you know, if I batted on merit and just try and bat time, I would get a good score, and fortunately it worked out in the end for me.”

The mammoth ton, Chakabva’s maiden McMahon Shield century, is also the fourth-highest individual effort in the competition’s history.

And, while the BLU skipper was undoubtedly the star of the day, there were plenty of important contributions as BLU reached its imposing total.

Kade Pearse (28), Werner Brand (33), Declan Pearse (39) and Luke Thompson (28) played the supporting role to a tee, allowing Chakabva to flourish while keeping the scoreboard ticking over when finding themselves on strike.

“We were just trying to keep it nice and simple, play on merit and just look to build some partnerships,” the BLU skipper said.

Elsewhere, ladder leader Moama found itself in a spot of bother on day one of its McMahon Shield clash against Nondies-Cohuna.

At 3-20, a sublime performance from the middle-order – and Moama’s in-form all-rounder Anthony McMahon — guided the black and white to equal footing at stumps.

Up into number four this round, 16-year-old Archie Teasdale combined with McMahon to compile 80 for the fourth wicket, with Teasdale crafting a steady 42 runs.

At the other end, McMahon fell eight runs shy of his second century with 92, powering past the 300-run mark for the season.

A half-century to Matt Saunders helped Moama power on to a score of 254, all out in the 67th over of the day.

“We were in a little trouble early,” Moama captain Joel Murphy said.

“In the end, 250 runs on the board is a pretty decent effort.”

Echuca South will defend 242 after an early declaration shootout against Tongala and the Swans have already made inroads into the Blues’ batting line-up.

On a pitch tipped to be favourable to the bowlers, Tonny skipper Alex Williams opted to send in South after winning the toss, and the call seemed to pay dividends early, with Lachlan Caldwell removing Tristan Watson in the third over.

But the Swans recovered quickly through Jayden Rosin and Asantha Singappuli, who put on 123 for the second wicket.

Rosin was frustratingly run out for 47 off a watchful 102 deliveries, while Singappuli’s 69 runs came after his 94 not out last round.

Rathika Rajakumara also notched back-to-back half-centuries with 60 before Tongala’s Rory Knight stood tall to remove him, Singappuli and Clayton Watson.

Knight ended with 4-28 to stop the Swans’ rapid run-scoring, while Darin Ohlsen was economical in his 17 overs with 2-37.

Despite their efforts, the Swans reached 9-242, and for co-captain Ben Eade, that total was enough for his team to have an early crack at Tongala’s batters.

A stunning century from Kobyn James has put reigning premier Echuca in a commanding position following the first day of its clash against Cooma at Victoria Park.

James, who starred in last season’s grand final with a ton, blasted 118 off 159 deliveries to drag his side to a competitive total of 205, as those around him faltered.

If Cooma was happy with restricting the reigning premier to a tick more than 200, the elation was short lived, as it was immediately put on the back foot when it set about the chase.

Jones (2-9) took the first wicket, as Robert Trewin was sent packing for one, before Hinks ensured both Cooma openers were taking off the pads early when he dismissed Brad Power (4) to have the visitors in strife at 2-9.

English import Matthew Darvill and Ben Napier survived to remain not out at stumps, with Cooma some 177 runs shy of Echuca’s total at 4-28.