Dandenong North batsman Shane Leonard fends a ball to the leg side during Saturday’s play in the semi-final against Berwick. Picture: Meagan Rogers.By Glen Atwell and Marc McGowan
SPRINGVALE South capitalised on a lacklustre batting performance by Buckley Ridges to propel itself into a fourth consecutive Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) Turf One grand final.
Springvale South scored 5/187 to comfortably beat Buckley Ridges (181) by five wickets at Greaves Reserve in Dandenong on the weekend and will play Berwick in the final showdown of the season.
Buckley Ridges captain Shane Simpson won the toss and elected to bat on what seemed a hard, flat and run-inducing wicket.
The toss proved to be the only victory Buckley Ridges would enjoy for the match.
Buckley Ridges opening batsman Basil Hobkirk capped off a season he would rather forget, scoring 4 before being caught off the bowling of Gavin Fewkes.
Fellow opener Daniel Watson (91) played strongly, but was tortured as he watched wickets steadily fall at the other end of the pitch.
Number three batsman Simpson was dismissed for a duck, captured lbw by Springvale South quick Danny Law.
But Simpson was not the only batsman quacking.
Second drop Paul Rudd soon joined Simpson in the shed, he too trapped in front – this time by Bobby Gray – without troubling the scorers.
Ruwan Jayadeva was next to face the music, and when he managed to get off the mark with a single, Watson was happily singing his praises.
After scoring 22, Jayadeva was removed and Buckley Ridges needed a saviour.
DDCA Wookey Medallist Shane D’Rozario had salvaged his side from trouble before countless times, and strode to the crease with expectations of an entire cricket club on his shoulders.
But D’Rozario could not shake his early inning nerves and was clean bowled for 12 by a corker of a delivery by Law.
With the dangerous D’Rozario out of the equation, Springvale South pounced on the Buckley Ridges’ tail-enders, and the innings folded faster than a piece of origami, the team all out for 181.
Law was ferocious with the leather, taking 4/40 from 18 overs, and Lance MacDougall’s three-over spell late in the innings produced 2/9.
In reply, Springvale South was mostly unchallenged in its run pursuit.
Captain and opening bat Craig Slocombe sounded a warning to the Berwick bowling attack, smashing 82 runs in a top-notch innings.
Law backed up his bowling efforts with 40 not out, while Andrew Sharp and Jason Quirk each contributed 16 as Springvale South passed the target with five wickets to spare.
Slocombe said he was happy with his side’s performance and was for once not too upset about losing the toss.
“Had I won the toss, we would have batted,” he said.
“Danny Law bowled really well and we won fairly comfortably in the end.”
@BT Sub Sport News:Berwick v North Dandenong
Berwick survived a gallant North Dandenong challenge to move into its second successive grand final with a one-wicket victory at Arch Brown Reserve on the weekend. The Bears entered the contest as hot favourites after a dominating season in which they finished 16 points clear of the second-placed Buckley Ridges.
Berwick looked to have a fight on its hands when its opponent moved to 3/108, but an extraordinary collapse ensued as North Dandenong was bowled out for 125.
Robert MacDonald top-scored with 36, but was one of just three players to reach double figures.
The wickets were shared between three Berwick players – Wookey Medal runner-up Alecs Roberts (4/17), Ash Henry (3/23) and Simon Cornell (3/29).
Despite losing three early wickets, Berwick’s chase looked well on target at 3/91 before the team suffering a similar lapse to North Dandenong to be 9/121.
After their one-wicket win in the final round against Parkfield, the Bears were primed for the pressure and Jarrod Goodes (57) and captain-coach Will Carr (19 not out) guided them past the target and beyond.
Carr was pleased with his side’s bowling effort, but will be looking for his batsmen to return to form this weekend.
“I’m happy we won. The bowling performance was exceptional, but the batting was a bit shaky,” he said.
“That can happen with small totals, so there’s nothing to be concerned about.”
The former Bushranger is feeling confident of repeating the dose on Springvale South this weekend to claim back-to-back pennants.
“You have to be confident, but it’s a two-horse race, so you can’t be overconfident,” Carr said.
“We finished on top of the ladder, but we could easily not be there after last weekend, so hopefully it’s a bit of a wake up call.”
Carr also fired a shot at this weekend’s opposing captain Craig Slocombe, and dismissed his recent hot stretch.
“He’s in-form against some ordinary attacks, but if you look at his record against Berwick it’s pretty poor,” he said.
