By David Nagel
B GRADE
Devon Meadows (9/197) is the first team to book a ticket to the WGCA B Grade grand final after the Panthers survived a thrilling and high-quality major semi-final against Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (7/190) at Glover Reserve on Saturday.
The Panthers were sent in by the Marygoons and lost an early wicket before their leading run-scorer this season, Billy Loudon (69), and number-three Connor Harmor (21), set about repairing the damage.
Harmor and Arthur Churchill (0) fell within the space of two balls, leaving Loudon and Nathan Kleinig (60) the task of turning a 3/42 score line into a winning score.
Loudon and Churchill were right on top, and so too were the Panthers, before Nick Mueller (5/24) dragged his team back into the contest.
Mueller claimed five consecutive wickets – including the two set batters – as the Panthers lost 4/7 to halt their progress.
Abhi Sharma (3/31) was also impressive as the Marygoons fought back late.
Their run-chase coughed and spluttered to start with before Jaswinder Gill (21), James Markland (25), Mansoor Ahmad (32), Shamraiz Medhi (38) and Darcy Taylor (39 not out) pushed their team close to the target.
The inability of any of those batters to kick on to half-centuries – as Loudon and Kleinig did – was the difference at the end of the day.
Churchill (2/15), Trent D’Alton (2/16) and Nathan Kleinig (2/45) all struck some telling blows for the Panthers.
Tooradin (7/140) will provide another stern test for the Marygoons this week after a nail-biting triumph over Clyde (139).
The Seagulls looked in the box seat after Luke Townsend (3/3), Tim Huguenin (3/19) and Connor O’Riordan (2/36) had battled hard to restrict Cougars’ batters like Adrian Buller (29), Shem Smith (29), Beau Hawkins (25) and Max Adams (20) to what appeared to be a modest score.
But the Cougars refused to concede, bowling tightly, as Buller (2/24) and Ross Elston (2/26) went to work.
Seagulls’ skipper Peter Stone (53) stood tall, as did Adam Jacobs (26), before a thrilling final over saw the Gulls home with just one ball left to spare.
Cricket can be cruel, and the Cougars can consider themselves unlucky that their season has come to an end.
C GRADE
Upper Beaconsfield (8/143) can sit back and relax this weekend – comfortable in the knowledge that it will play in the grand final – after the Maroons toppled top-of-the-ladder Merinda Park (131) in a hard-fought semi-final at Donnelly Reserve.
There was nothing flashy about this one; it was pure hard work, as the Maroons cracked the Cobras in the dying overs.
The contest was hot from the start; with Ben Amos (49 not out) guiding the Maroons to a competitive score with some great help from Lachie Harrison (28) and thanks to a valuable late contribution from Mitch Summers (16).
The Cobras would have been quite content at the break after Russ Jenkin (3/27), Brenton Huyskens (2/25) and Scotty Strang (1/16 off 8) had predominantly had the upper hand.
The battle was back on after tea, with the contest defined by one particular stat.
The Cobras top-four batters this season, Chris Smith (17), Glen Ward (17), Marty Donaldson (23) and Huyskens (15) all got starts, but none could kick on to play a match-winning innings.
The Maroons used eight bowlers, and half of them – Beau Watson (2/10), Amos (2/15), Josh Westra (2/19) and Harrison (2/27) – claimed two wickets apiece.
And Gembrook (9/126) is the first team booted out of this year’s finals series after falling to Officer (6/127) at Starling Road.
Much like Merinda Park, the Brookers failed to bank starts with top-order players Kim Bentick (35), Timmy Gray (25) and Dean McPherson (13) – who batted for 57 balls – putting their lower-order teammates under pressure.
The Bullants two big guns with the ball – Brent Pullen (3/27) and James Quinn (2/23) – kept their team in the game before the dinner break.
Bentick (3/18) then struck some early blows for the Brookers, but a game-high 43-run partnership between Blake Henderson (43) and Taj Beddows (17 not out) saw the Bullants march on to a preliminary final date with Merinda Park.
D GRADE
One classic contest, and an absolute obliteration, that basically sums up semi-final day in WGCA D Grade on Saturday.
The classic contest just happened to be for a place in this year’s grand final, with Tooradin (9/159) surviving an epic challenge from Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (5/157) to scrape through to the biggest game of all.
Neither team could gain the ascendency before tea, with the Marygoons building a handy score through the efforts of Nadun Alwis (41), Russ Jackson (37 not out) and Lakhvir Sekhon (26), while Jeremy Bodley (1/23) in particular gave nothing away with the ball.
At the dinner break…a Rutter Park classic looked on the cards!
And the game delivered, with Ryon Tocknell (2/24) and Luke Merrett (3/37) doing some serious damage to the Seagulls top-order…the Goon on top…the Seagulls 4/45!
Opener Shannon Warn (44) was the immovable object for the Gulls, but he just needed someone to stay with him. Glenn Michie (39) played that role perfectly, the pair putting on 65 for the fifth wicket.
Joel McCorkell (34) then took over from Michie, and then from Warn as well, before being dismissed with his team still four runs short of victory.
Riley McLeod (4 not out) first levelled the scores – seeing the top-placed Gulls through to the big dance – before partnering with Bodley to strike the winning runs with just one wicket and three balls left in the tank.
An absolute ripper…will we see a repeat on 26 March?
A total of 28 overs – that’s all it took for Devon Meadows (2/41) to roll Cardinia (38) in the elimination semi-final at Lang Lang.
The Bulls simply had no answer to the Panthers three-pronged attack, with Dave Fisher (4/12), Rob Worsteling (3/14) and Abhishek Iyer (2/5) ripping through the Bulls in record time.
Shane Fisher (18 not out) and Robbie McMahen (15 not out) then knocked off the required runs without concern. That’s the end of a very basic story.
E GRADE
Red-hot premiership favourite Pakenham (98) opened the door and showed signs of vulnerability against Emerald (77) in the E Grade major semi-final at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday.
Bowled out for under 100, the Lions red-hot undefeated streak looked certain to come to an end.
With no players making over 20 – skipper Troy Wilson (19) was closest – the Lions had no answers to the precision bowling of Raj Singh, Warwick Marsh, Nick Govaars and Kunal Nanda, who all chimed in with two wickets each for the Bombers.
A home grand final at Emerald – good for the club’s coffers – was almost assured as the players headed in for tea.
But that open door…well it was well and truly slammed shut after the dinner break as the Lions reminded us all of why they’re almost impossible to beat for this year’s flag.
The Lions – in second or third gear for most of the season – put the pedal to the metal in one of the great bowling performances of the season.
With grand final hosting rights on the line, the Lions unleashed fury, with Dale McCraw (1/12 off 7.2), David Searle (2/12 off 8), Zac Downes (3/23 off 8) and Terry Smith (3/19 off 8) bringing the Bombers back down to earth in a hurry.
And the Bombers will need to rebound quickly, because they’ll face a confident Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (1/101) in the preliminary final this week after the Marygoons made light work of Clyde (9/99) at Nar Nar Goon.
Only one of Clyde’s best batters delivered, with Joel Driver (33) digging his team out of a 5/33 hole after Jake Caisley (3/29) and Russ Perry (2/5) had given the Goon the upper hand.
The Cougars may have had a Driver at the helm…but they had a lot more passengers on the weekend!
The Goon then turned their run-chase into a procession, with Perry (64) completing a fine all-round performance and Brandon (17 not out) and Greg Interlandi (16 not out) fine tuning their talents for one or two battles ahead.
F GRADE
What an extraordinary day of cricket we witnessed in WGCA F Grade on Saturday…with 784 runs scored and both games coming down to the wire!
The biggest prize on offer was a grand final berth and Cardinia (5/215) has secured that offering after a breath-taking run-chase against Pakenham (212).
The Lions did nothing wrong with the bat, scoring at more than five runs per over with Mitchell Kezik (63), Rob Newell (42) and Adam Roseby (29) taking things up to the Bulls.
Deepak Gusain (16), Paul Hart (14) and Greg Hogben (16) were others to get starts but the Lions were thwarted by Ash Jones (3/47) and Ben Monckton (2/45)…who were both expensive but took five wickets between them.
Cardy then came out swinging, with Yohan Labrooy (31) in fine touch and Chris Remy (67) doing what Chris Remy does best!
Remy was extraordinary, hitting seven sixes and two fours – that’s 50 runs in boundaries!
With the run-rate through the roof, it was left to Tony Ciantar (27), Jones (26) and Monckton (27 not out) to guide the Bulls into the grand final with two overs left to spare.
And what drama unfolded at Lang Lang (8/179) – where the Swampies prevailed by one run against a desperately unlucky Devon Meadows (5/178).
David Fisher-White (68) was once again the conductor for the home side, with Tangata Dean (24) and Dylan Halden (21) playing the rest of the chorus.
Corey Coupar (3/29) was best for the Panthers, who conceded a whopping 36 extras!
Jason Brzezowski (64) and Anthony Brown (25) then got the Panthers off to a solid start in reply, but they were never above the run-rate, with Lincoln Hepburn (37 not out) doing his best to drag his beloved Panthers across the line.
Hepburn and Mark Hosking (8 not out) were at the crease as the final nail was driven into the Panthers’ season…falling just two runs short at the completion of their 40 overs.
Ryan Denmead (3/31) and Keith Halden (2/34) did most of the damage for the very happy, and very relieved, Swamp Tigers!
