By JARROD POTTER
LYNDALE (140 and 2/89) issued its first letter of intent in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s (DDCA) Turf 1 competition – belting North Dandenong (114 and 109) to register its first outright victory in the top tier.
Already securing first innings points last week, Lyndale lost its last three wickets on the cheap with Jurgen Andersen (3/35) and Glen Pepper (3/17) the best of the Norths’ contingent. What happened next was an unmitigated disaster for the home side – Lyndale made North Dandenong look foolish in the reply, with only Shane Leonard (34), Adam Read (18) and Pepper (27no) determined to make their wicket worthwhile.
It was a Dale Tormey master class as the Lyndale spearhead knocked off 5/63 – his first five-for in the senior DDCA ranks. Michael Gallagher (3/25) and Sanjeewa De Silva (1/16) razed the rest of the Norths’ batsmen to give Lyndale a quick-fire chase for outright points.
Lyndale needed only the top four to get the job done as Jaime Brohier (18), captain Rory Ingram (31), Quyen Pham (12no) and the man of the moment Tormey (22no) knocked in the winning runs in 27 overs. Read (1/18) and Andersen (1/13) were the only wicket takers for North Dandenong.
The win pushes Lyndale up to sixth and North Dandenong into wooden spoon territory, with Lyndale facing Buckley Ridges away this round and North Dandenong heading to Mordialloc.
Coomoora v Parkfield
Almost there, but not quite enough spelled defeat for Coomoora (186) as the Kangaroos looked to chase the imposing Parkfield (216) total.
Steve Spoljaric (3/36) took the early wicket of Rahoul Pankhania (4) leaving the heavy lifting to Thanura Halambage (48), captain Paul Hill (32) and Rob Johnston (32) to turn the tables. Shane Bell (2/62) removed the dangerous Jake D’Atri (14) and Luke Wenke (14) on the cheap, leaving everything to Halambage at the top of the order.
The chase gained momentum, but when Halambage fell to Spoljaric two-shy of his half-century and the experienced duo Hill/Johnston fell, so did the chase.
Jarryd Williamson (4/25) ripped through the lower order, with only Joseph Hawke (13) putting any scoreboard pressure back on the Bears. Spoljaric was unplayable, with 10 maidens in his 27 overs, and Bell, 24 overs with five maidens, was similarly economical on the postage-stamp sized Coomoora Reserve.
The win has Parkfield atop the table in DDCA Turf 1, in a battle for the top spot against Hallam Kalora Park this round, while Coomoora is winless from two starts and will hope to rebound against Berwick.
Springvale South v Heinz Southern Districts
The Cobras would be livid that Springvale South (9/97) was able to hold on to prevent a well-deserved win. Rain stopped most of the day, with the Bloods only batting 48 overs – but what they did have to bat was terrifying for the home side.
Heinz ripped through the line-up with ease – Justin Davis (6/20) smoked six victims from the crease while veteran tweaker Paul Stockdale (2/49) kept the runflow to a minimum at the other end.
The Bloods’ defence happened in the middle order as Ryan Quirk (23), Jackson Sketcher (17) and captain Craig Slocombe (24) helped put some runs in the ledger before another round of Davis’ heat destroyed the next phase of Springvale South batting. It was left to Mitch Forsyth (8no) and Cameron Scott (3no) to scrape a draw from the precarious predicament. The pair survived 70 balls collectively to deny Heinz its victory.
Springvale South sits fifth on the ladder and faces Narre Warren in a two-dayer starting this week.
Narre Warren v Dandenong West and Mordialloc v Buckley Ridges were both called off due to unfit playing conditions.
