By Nick Creely
DDCA TURF 1,2 AND 3
REVIEW – ROUND 13 (DAY TWO)
TURF 1
It took until the second last round of the home-and-away season, but the finalists to fight for the DDCA Turf 1 premiership are finally locked in.
Springvale South, Buckley Ridges, Berwick and Hallam Kalora Park will all see finals action this season; however the final makeup of the top four is yet to be determined. It means, however, that Mordialloc are officially out of the race to defend their premiership after going down.
Most of the attention of the round was down at Frawley Road, where Hallam set about the task of chasing the 200 set by Matt Chasemore’s Berwick on day one.
Despite steady openers Ben Hillard (11) and Leigh Booth (25) working hard to see off the new ball, a stunning over from spearhead Brendan Rose (2/15) got the visitors up and about.
Snaring the edge of Hillard at the start of the over to give Nathan Pilon some catching practice behind the stumps, Rose removed Jagveer Hayer four balls later without scoring, immediately placing the home side under pressure on 2/20.
It took another stunning purple patch, this time from Jack Phillips (3/20), to truly take the game away, snaring gun batsmen Jaime Brohier and Jordan Hammond within three balls of each other.
Booth fought hard to stay at the crease, but his undoing, brought about by a sublime catch by Matt Robertson off Jarrod Goodes (1/5), meant it was only a matter of time before the Bears could rattle through the tail.
Surviving just the 54 overs, the Hawks rolled over for a mere 84, with Cory Bevan (3/18) continuing his fine season with another nice haul of wickets.
North Dandenong, meanwhile, put in a mighty effort but ultimately fell short of hauling in a monster chase against Springvale South.
Chasing 372 for victory after a Steve Spoljaric century on day one, the Maroons were rocked by two early wickets, but managed to steady the ship largely through the efforts of opener Austin Heldt (55) in the first session.
But it was a stunning partnership between Akshay Ballal (112) and Shehan Fernando (74) brought the game back to life, with Ballal in particularly carving the ball to all parts on his way to his third century of the season.
With just 10 overs left in the game, the Maroons appeared to be in the box seat at 4/295, requiring a further 77 runs for victory at a tick under eight an over.
But spinner Jarryd Straker – as he has all season – delivered at an opportune time, snaring 5/73 to see the home side bowled out for a brave 344 in the 79th over.
Meanwhile, down at Ben Kavanagh Reserve, Mordialloc’s season finals hopes came to an end at the hands of Buckley Ridges.
The Bloodhounds appeared to be cruising in their chase of 273, with Brendan Morris (59) and Ian Daniel (81) compiling a brilliant 141-run opening stand, with Daniel’s strokeplay in particular an absolute delight.
But that’s where the home side’s momentum came to an end, with the pair removed within minutes of each other.
The Bucks rattled through the middle order superbly, with Greg Todd (3/39) in fine touch yet again, and the home side fell short, bowled out for 231.
And Heinz Southern Districts (134 and 1/34) defeated St Mary’s (84), which means the final round clash against North Dandenong will see the loser drop down into Turf 2 next season.
TURF 2
Cranbourne’s truly remarkable resurgence back into finals calculations has taken yet another surge forward, with the Eagles upstaging ladder leaders Narre South at home to draw within six points of fourth spot with a round to play.
Coming from the clouds, the Eagles have rebuilt their season after a torrid start, and Saturday’s brave effort is another indicator that Matt Blackman’s group can do some serious damage.
After a strong showing on day one, the Eagles resumed at 1/28, still 114 runs shy of a brilliant win, but captain-coach Scott Phillips (1/43) picked up a wicket early to have the home side on the back foot.
Blackman (52) and Lucas Ligt (68) dug deep, combining for the match winning 111-run stand to see their side to the biggest win of the season for a club that could have very nearly been in the relegation conversation before Christmas.
The Eagles face second last Parkmore Pirates in a one day match on Saturday, with a win potentially putting them into the finals.
St Brigid’s/St Louis, meanwhile, will not feature in the finals this season after a thrilling loss to the Pirates at Wachter Reserve.
Resuming at 0/10, the Pirates got the winning runs with just a wicket to spare, with Vaib Deshpande (4/33) doing his best to see the Saints over the line.
Narre Warren dug itself out of a hole down at Sweeney Reserve to stay inside the top four against Dingley.
The Magpies ended day one in some serious trouble at 4/45, still a ways from racing down the Dingoes’ 162, but brilliant knocks from Jenal Weerasekera (55) and Imran Laghmani (44) got the home side over the line.
And Dandenong West provided the second major upset of the round, knocking over Narre North away from home in a great confidence booster for the youthful Westers.
The Westers were simply sublime, running down the Rams’ 180 with just the loss of three wickets, with Matt Dinnie (68 not out) and Dylan Diacono (43 not out) combining for an 84-run stand to see them over the line.
The Rams still sit in second spot, despite the loss, but need to bounce back against a Narre Warren side that will be desperate to qualify for finals with a win.
TURF 3
It was a truly extraordinary match for gun Coomoora bowler Malan Madusanka.
After his frightening performance of 6/10 on day one, Madusanka backed up his heroics by snaring 7/29 in the second dig against Silverton to see the ‘Roos to an outright victory.
The Kangaroos raced down the 94 runs required in just under an hour to snare the extra points, after the Bakers couldn’t handle Madusanka’s brilliance in the second innings.
Matt Golding, meanwhile, led Beaconsfield to a barnstorming victory against Fountain Gate at Max Pawsey Reserve.
The Tigers were in a spot of bother at 5/66 when play resumed, still needing a further 71 runs for victory.
It seemed that the visitors weren’t going to get the job done after quickly falling to 8/93, but a stunning partnership by Golding (88) and Callan Tout (73) saw them cross the total with ease.
The Tigers kept batting to finish on 231, with Rodni Kumara (4/54) battling hard with the ball as per usual.
In other matches across the round, Keysborough (180 and 1/15) defeated Lynbrook (111 and 9/216) at Marriott Waters, while Parkfield (159) were too strong for Lyndale (136).
With just a round left to play, the finalists are locked in, with Beaconsfield, Parkfield, Lyndale and Keysborough set to tune-up for finals on Saturday.
