By Jonty Ralphsmith
Heinz Southern Districts and Parkmore have both progressed to the grand final of Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 2 competition.
The pair had contrasting victories, with a Mackenzie Gardner century leading HSD to a comfortable 147-run win over Lyndale, while Parkmore successfully defended 131 in a thriller against Cranbourne.
At Frederick Wachter Reserve, Parkmore lost important cog Kyle Gwynne early, but recovered to a stable 3/98, before the Eagles instigated a collapse of 7/33.
Four of the wickets in that period went to Eagles skipper Harry Carlyon, who finished with astonishing figures of 4/7 off 13 overs to completely turn the match.
It came after Satheesh Fernandu manipulated the field well in a knock of 54 to set the day up nicely for the Pirates.
But Cranbourne erased their hard work with the ball by slumping to 6/49 at stumps on day one.
Ankit Saxena took three wickets in an inspired late-day spell, with Justin Dickinson the unbeaten batter at stumps, needing to manufacture 83 runs through lower-order partnerships.
After an early wicket on day two, Dickinson formed a pressure-absorbing 30-run partnership with Alex Hollingsworth, before the number five batter was undone by Pirates’ skipper Niranjen Kumar.
Hollingsworth, Tim Fathers and Marty Kelly were all valiant, facing more than 30 balls of high-intensity bowling.
A 25-run last wicket stand briefly lifted the tension, before Saxena capped a terrific match with the game-sealing wicket.
At KM Reedy Reserve, opener Brent Patterson (57) scored his second half-century of the season, putting consistent pressure on the Lyndale bowlers as Gardner built his innings well at the other end.
The pair combined for 91 runs for the second wicket, which set the match up, with Gardner also sharing 50-run partnerships with Triyan De Silva (32) and Harry Funnell (20).
HSD reached 8/276, and took two wickets in the opening spell on day two, before Sakuntha Liyanage’s 4/24 helped bowl Lyndale out for 129.
The Turf 2 grand final will be contested at Thomas Carroll Reserve.
For Parkmore, it will be an opportunity to return to Turf 1 with a different looking outfit, after two seasons in Turf 2, while HSD’s well-supported, tight-knit squad has another opportunity to fight for a spot in the top grade after recent finals heartbreak.
The Cobras have an appetite for run-scoring, passing 250 four times and 300 twice this season, led by number three Gardner, the explosive De Silva and Brent Patterson, while Ryan Patterson has led the way with the ball.
A reasonably young squad, all four aforementioned players have been central to their home-and-away success in recent seasons and are well versed playing finals cricket.
In contrast, Parkmore’s bowling has been its strength, five times bowling teams out for below 150, with five bowlers having at least 13 wickets.
After the pair’s one day home and away fixture was washed out, HSD got the better of Parkmore by three wickets in a low-scoring run chase at Frederick Wachter Reserve in round 10.
