By Marcus Uhe
A five-wicket haul to Hallam Kalora Park seamer Lauchlan Gregson helped keep the Hawks’ finals chances alive in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 1 competition, leaving his side in a winnable position against Buckley Ridges after the first day.
Gregson’s 5/56 helped keep Buckley Ridges to just 190 on a slow batting day at Hallam Recreation Reserve, after Buckley skipper Jayson Hobbs bucked the trend of all other Turf 1 captains on Saturday and opted to bat.
Buckley Ridges found scoring difficult at the top of the order, kept to under two runs per over for much of the first half of the batting innings.
Hobbs and his opening partner Jake Cronin struck at 4.5 (1 off 22) and 20 (18 off 86) respectively in the face of a Hawks attack playing for their season.
Only Roshane Silva raised his bat for a half-century for the visitors, hitting a patient 62 off 166 deliveries to keep the bowling attack at bay.
He eventually became one of Gregson’s five victims, joining Cronin and last week’s hero Michael Davies as having fallen to the right-arm quick.
Davies’ 36 was the second-best score for the visitors, who will need to bowl at their best next week.
In a promising sign for the Hawks, Jordan Hammond took only one wicket, as his fellow bowlers stepped-up to shoulder some responsibility.
Spinner Lee Brown took 2/31, Charith Keerthisinghe and William Whyte each taking one each.
The result of the clash will say plenty about both side’s finals chances, with the Hawks sitting fifth and Buckley Ridges third.
Play at Springvale South’s clash with North Dandenong was paused after just eight deliveries due to concerns over the playing surface at Alex Nelson Reserve.
The second ball of Sushant Gupta’s opening over for the Maroons to Ryan Quirk, on a decent length around the left-hander’s off stump, removed a significant divot in the pitch, leading to a discussion between umpires Rory Ludowyk and Peter Cramphorn.
Players from both sides then left the field of play, not returning for the remainder of the afternoon.
The two sides will play a one-day clash this week.
