By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION
IT WAS double the delight for North Dandenong on Saturday, with Dean Gunawardana and Clayton McCartney rescuing the innings to post a pair of centuries.
NORTH DANDENONG v NARRE WARREN
From bad to beautiful, the revival of North Dandenong’s (292) innings was spearheaded by twin centuries from the middle order against Narre Warren.
Norths’ old batting woes had surfaced with the top order completely crumbling against Kaushalya Weerarante (4/90) and Pramod Liyanagamage (3/81). From 4/27 to 5/66, it was panic stations as Gunawardana and McCartney were brought together. Earning his first Turf 1 call up for the season, McCartney made it count, buckling down with Gunawardana to see off the Magpies and counter-attack in style.
The Gunawardana/McCartney partnership reaped 154 runs – the new sixth wicket top partnership for Turf 1 this season. Narre Warren was slipping by then, pushing everyone to the rope and allowing the easy singles as Gunawardana raised his bat, soon to be followed by McCartney for a half-century of his own. Gunawardana fell soon after, leaving McCartney and the tail to see what they could achieve with 11 overs and free reign to hit.
Jurgen Andersen (28) was first up – belting one of the bigger sixes hit at Lois Twohig Reserve – striking from the clubhouse end and smashing it into the trees on the hill at the primary school end. Andersen and McCartney accrued a rapid-fire 64 as McCartney drew in on a century of his own. McCartney went for it with boundaries – smashing 12 fours and two sixes – most of which came after his 50 as the former TAC Cup footballer made his talents known in his other sport of passion.
A few hairy moments and a couple of thick edges played in McCartney’s favour as he scurried through for his maiden DDCA Turf 1 century. It leaves Narre Warren with a ton of work to do on Saturday – chasing 293 for first innings points.
BERWICK v DANDENONG WEST
Walid Ghauri (70) finished his batting year in style as Dandenong West (213) set a task for Berwick and its star-recruit Thilan Samaraweera to chase. Ghauri weathered the initial storm as Turf 1 debutant Alexander Cross (1/26) rattled Justin Stanton from the crease with his second ball of the day. Ghauri and Matt Fielding (42) added 84-run partnership before Ghauri fell to Nirmal Wickramaratne (2/43). Gehan Perera (28) was the other Bull to impress with the bat as Ryan Crawford (3/30) and Jarrod Goodes (2/46) helped run through the lower order. Samaraweera (1/5) claimed his first wicket as he dismissed Perera with the help of Goodes in the slips. Tanner Stanton (18no) and Andrew Taylor (9 not out) batted out to stumps, leaving Berwick with 186 runs to attain.
HALLAM KALORA PARK v BUCKLEY RIDGES
The Buckley Ridges (8/200) middle order got the job done against Hallam Kalora Park, with Antonio Greenidge (62), Dan Haasbroek (28) and Suren Ekanayake (43) doing the heavy lifting. It started poorly for the Ridges as Paul Rudd (1) and Jayson Hobbs (1) came and went without much resistance, leaving the job to Greenidge and company. The final efforts came from the tail as Richard Hope (26 not out) and Wes Nicholas (15 not out) added a bit more to the final chase.
HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS v COOMOORA
Coomoora (163) has put a respectable tally on the board against Heinz Southern Districts (1/10), but the Kangaroos will rue wasted opportunities. Starts were not cashed in as Jason Bacic (38), Lance Baptist (10), Paul Hill (13) and Rob Johnston (16) failed to carry on for a big score. Joel Robertson (33 not out) held together the attack at the death as Michael Davies (4/30) and Matt Cox (3/39) were the main wicket-takers for the Cobras. Coomoora got one back before stumps with Oliver Ashford (1/4) snaring the top order scalp of Keith Perumal (3).
