ENGLISH import Arun Harinath was thrown into the furnace that was Central Reserve last Saturday and proved up to the challenge, posting his maiden century for Footscray-Edgewater as the Bulldogs made 8-320 against Richmond in Premier Cricket.
The 25-year-old Surrey batsman made 138 with 14 boundaries in just his fourth Premier Cricket innings with his new club.
While the heat made him uncomfortable, Harinath overcame all obstacles to play the anchor role in the Bulldogs innings.
He said raising the bat to make the century took a little extra effort as the heat was getting to him.
“We’d run a lot of threes; it probably shows I need to do a little more work on my fitness,” he said.
“It was my first hundred; it was good to get among the runs.”
Harinath paid tribute to his top-order teammates Dean Russ (33), Wes Robinson (13) and Benjamin Green (27), who had the Bulldogs on 3-98 when Harinath walked to the crease at number four.
“We had a good platform set up earlier in the innings by Russ, Wes and Greeny,” Harinath said.
“It was just a case of trying to continue their good work and it turned out to be my turn to make a hundred today, which was nice.
“It was hot, but after a while when the ball was getting softer it was easier to bat on.
“I think all batters try to stick around as long as possible because if you do that it can get easier for you.
“It did today and luckily it was my turn to cash in.”
Harinath thanked his teammates for welcoming him to the club and hoped his side could bowl out the Tigers when play resumes on Saturday. “It’s a young squad and they’ve made me feel welcome,” he said. “It makes it easier to play well when you feel comfortable and at home; credit to the guys here at Footscray. We needed to get a big score behind us and now hopefully we can bowl them out.”
Tigers Ben Torney (2-44) and Steve Garrett (2-48) were the best bowlers for the home side.
Play resumes at Central Reserve, Glen Waverley, at noon on Saturday.
PREMIER CRICKET
Firsts: Richmond v Footscray Edgewater 8-320 (A Harinath 138 D Kight 38 D Russ 33 H Winter-Irving 28no B Green 27; BD Torney 2-44 S Garrett 2-48).
Seconds: Footscray Edgewater v Richmond 184 (C Perry 70 C Anderson 33; M Winter-Irving 4-29 AW McCammond 2-21 J Freeman 2-52).
Thirds: Richmond 150 (MJ McKenna 39; J King 3-32 A Beniwal 3-32 D Vipond 2-9) v Footscray Edgewater 1-41.
Fourths: Footscray Edgewater 0-9 v Richmond 298 (N Suppree 64 C Parker 64 D Krelle 56no JW Richardson 47 B Holst 26; R Allada 4-92 L King 2-35 T McSweeney 2-47).
