Above: Narre Warren batsman Dimitri Dimakopoulos in action against Parkfield at Sweeney Reserve on Saturday.By Glen Atwell
DANDENONG District Cricket Association players braved the odd shower and gale-force winds to complete round two of the Turf One season on Saturday.
Buckley Ridges made it one win and one loss when it easily defeated Keysborough at Park Oval.
Chasing 213 for victory, the Ridges passed the total with six wickets in hand and finished the day 9/376.
Buckley batsman Ruwan Jayadeva (94) was unlucky not to score a century as he continued his brilliant start to the season.
Jayadeva is averaging 64 runs per innings after his first two knocks.
Buckley captain Shane Simpson also impressed with the bat, smashing 89 before caught off the bowling of Baden Saunders.
Saunders was the pick of the Keysborough bowlers, snaring 3/45 off 14 overs.
The win catapults Buckley Ridges into sixth position, Keysborough bringing up the bottom of the Turf One ladder.
An impressive knock by Southern Pirates’ batsman Chamath Jayaweera saved the side from utter embarrassment against Springvale South at Alex Nelson Reserve on Saturday.
The Pirates (235) never looked like amassing the 325 runs required, but Jayaweera kept the crowd entertained, smashing 12 fours in his innings.
Meanwhile, wickets fell steadily as the Pirates’ batsmen were making starts but struggled to go on with the job.
Seven of the Pirates made it to double figures, but didn’t reach 20 or more.
Springvale bowler Gavin Fewkes (3/44) again did the bulk of the damage and continued his impressive start to the season.
Fewkes has taken 10 wickets at an average of 12 runs per wicket in the first two matches.
Dandenong West beat St Mary’s by one wicket in a Greaves Reserve thriller on Saturday.
Chasing 171 for victory, Dandenong West was stranded at 9/166 when Paul Hadden was clean bowled by exciting Saints paceman Emmanuel Coomaraswamy.
With the match in the balance, Peter Lindsay and David Crowe needed six runs to secure the win for Dandenong West and, with patience and poise, did what they had to do.
Coomaraswamy was deadly with the red leather, taking 7/61 from a lengthy spell of 35 overs.
But despite his efforts, St Mary’s bowled 28 extras, compared to Dandenong’s 9 – a figure that proved telling in the outcome of the game.
Narre Warren remains undefeated through two rounds after a five-wicket triumph over winless Parkfield in Turf One action at Sweeney Reserve.
Resuming at 0/14 after bowling Parkfield out for 191 the previous weekend, Narre Warren openers Dimitri Dimakopoulos (58) and Dwayne Thomson (25) contributed a steady 66-run partnership to put the Magpies in control.
Several other players made a start, and despite remaining in charge, Narre Warren slipped to 5/152 before man of the moment Vinay Tripathi (3/71) guided his team to the victory target with an unbeaten 32.
Shane Doig, backing up from his team-high score of 42, was the pick of the bowlers with 3/64.
Doveton has slumped to its second loss in as many matches after succumbing to North Dandenong by five wickets in their Turf One contest at Lois Twohig Reserve.
Doveton managed a measly 120, which was routinely overtaken by unbeaten North Dandenong.
Robert McDonald’s 42 styled the run chase, while Glen Pepper (40) provided some lusty hitting once the total had been reached.
Nathan Wilson led Doveton’s defence with the stellar figures of 4/46, but it was to no avail.
