All teams took the field against familiar opposition on the weekend in the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) completing the second of consecutive one-day matches against the same teams for round seven of the Turf 1 competition.
It was a similar story to last week for most teams, with Buckley Ridges making it 2-0 against Berwick, Springvale South banking back-to-back wins over Parkmore and Hallam Kalora Park finding form with consecutive victories against Dandenong West.
A Ryan Quirk century was the highlight of the weekend as the Bloods opener took the Pirates down with a brilliant innings to finish on 123 and help his team to a huge score of 281 in the first innings.
The opening batter has been a huge inclusion to the side this season and has effectively complemented the other top-order batters, taking pressure of them.
Quirk has no trouble scoring at a rapid rate and leads the entire competition for runs scored with 375 at an average of 75, while fellow opener Cam Forsyth is third in Turf 1 with 272 at 54.4.
It was a nice moment when the left-handed star reached his first century of the season after being unluckily run out at the non-strikers end earlier in the season on 87 when he looked a lock to reach triple figures.
There was a rather Quirky moment when the Bloods batter was on 95 facing Parkmore bowler Jack Farrington.
Realising that the Pirates had six players outside the ring, Quirk attacked the spinner and was caught on the boundary at long-off.
He ran a single and pointed out to the umpire and bowler the error in the field – subsequently, a no-ball was called and he continued on towards triple figures.
Other cameos from Mitch Forsyth (24), Cam Forsyth (35), Chathuranga De Silva (36) and Dasun Opanayaka (38 not out) helped the side to a healthy total.
Parkmore’s Harmanpreet Singh (34) and skipper Niranjen Kumar (47 not out) were the only players in the top 10 to make double figures in the run chase, with Dilum Sasantha (18) also chipping in late.
Despite their efforts, they fell 136 runs short as Jarryd Straker produced another remarkable spell of bowling to claim 3/1 off six overs, while Blade Baxter (3/12 off five overs) was also damaging.
Straker has been dominating the Turf 1 competition and has proven himself as the most lethal spinner in the competition with 19 wickets at 10.32.
Hallam Kalora Park may have started the season with some rocky performances, but the Hawks will finally feel like they have found their groove, defeating Dandenong West by eight wickets last weekend.
A Damith Perera century guided the Hawks to a narrow final-over victory against the Bulls last week, but this game was far less competitive.
The Jordan Hammond-led Hawks won the toss and bowled first and while the first partnership was 34 runs, the next nine wickets fell for just 48, to leave Dandenong West all out for a dismal 82.
The opening pair of Shaun Weir (14) and Mohit Mandora (28) battled hard, but following that, there were four teammates who returned to the sheds with ducks.
Shaveen Ranawaka was a genuine wrecking ball and with him steaming in and taking wickets, the Bulls never stood a chance.
Ranawaka was playing just his second game of the season in Turf 1 and took 6/25 off nine overs as he took complete control of the game.
In reply, Hawks pair Jawid Khan (30) and Perera (26 not out) saw the team to victory, chasing the runs in just the 15th over of the game to win by eight wickets.
Dale Tormey delivered once again for Buckley Ridges, with his score of 68 at the top of the order leading the way as he helped the Bucks to a sixth straight win.
Thanks to Tormey’s classy innings, combined with a late-order cameo from Cooper Gray (30 not out), the side posted a solid total of 190.
Lachlan Brown and Elliot Matthews took three wickets each and looked most dangerous with the ball for Berwick.
It was perhaps the most shaky that the Bucks’ batting order has looked this season, but they still managed to post a really solid total thanks to Tormey, who took his season tally to 326 runs (second-highest in Turf 1).
The Bears needed 191 to win and would’ve been confident that they could chase the runs if they batted the overs, but Buckley Ridges built pressure from the first ball.
Berwick had five batters score between 20 and 40, but they all failed to convert their starts into big scores – they just needed one of them to push on in order to win the game.
While Ishan Jayarathna finished with impressive figures of 4/33, some credit has to go to guys like Ashen Hettinayaka (3/31 off nine overs) and Harry Snowden (1/14 off nine overs) who were extremely economical.
As they do so often, Buckley Ridges prevailed as Jayarathna took some late wickets to keep his team’s undefeated streak alive, the Bears bowled out just eight runs short of the total for 182.
