By JARROD POTTER
DDCA TURF 1 – ROUND 9 (Day 2)
THE colours were on show Saturday as Springvale South flexed its one-day muscles again to build a handy buffer atop the DDCA Turf 1 ladder.
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v PARKFIELD
Brutalising Parkfield (52) in a 31-over massacre, Springvale South (0/55) showed no mercy to capture yet another win – the seventh of the season for the high-flying Bloods.
Tim Ford (5/18) took matters into his hands early. He devastated the Bears’ top order – sending four men back to the sheds in four consecutive balls; snaring a rare double hat-trick at the local level. A fifth Bear soon went back to hibernation as Nilochana Perera (0) lost his bails to … you guessed it, Ford.
Travis D’Souza (15no) held on valiantly as the procession of wickets continued at the other end via Jarrod Armitage (2/12) and Matt Wetering (2/11) joining the party to stop the innings quickly.
The chase was even quicker than the initial hunt for wickets; Dylan Quirk (27no) and Michael Vandort (22no) did it in a canter to leave Parkfield speechless come day’s end.
DANDENONG WEST v HALLAM KALORA PARK
In the only white-clothed Turf 1 clash, Dandenong West’s (167) efforts last week proved enough to vanquish Hallam Kalora Park (149) and effectively kill off the Hawks’ finals hopes. Led by Shaun Weir (5/36), the Bulls put in their best performance of the season to roll all and sundry. Leigh Booth (36) was a lone Hallam hold out, but even his efforts soon fell apart. His wicket proved the catalyst for demise as the Hawks slumped after the evergreen allrounder fell. Peter Atkinson (3/39) finished the job as he and Weir burdened the workload to rattle off 50 overs between them.
CRANBOURNE v BUCKLEY RIDGES
Buckley Ridges (88) had its finals hopes quashed by Cranbourne (5/89) after a woeful collapse at Casey Fields. The Ridges’ recognised bats were held to ransom by Eagles’ devastators Matt Chasemore (4/6) and Steve Spoljaric (3/25). The visitors’ top four barely registered a peep, falling to 4/10 in the opening few overs. It left the heavy lifting to Paul Rudd (27) and the skipper Dan Watson (16), but even they fell after the defences were ripped to shreds. Cranbourne’s Ben Ingham (2/13) – making his Turf 1 debut – skittled Rudd and Lukas Hoogenboom (9) to start his top grade career in style. The chase had similar hiccups – especially against Hoogenboom (3/13) – but in the end Spoljaric (27no) and Chasemore (29) did the damage once again to take Cranbourne to its fifth win in a row.
NORTH DANDENONG v BERWICK
Middle order mastery from Berwick (8/165) and some nuanced bowling was more than enough to blow away North Dandenong (63). Ryan Crawford (51) grit his teeth and held on through the middle overs alongside Josh Holden (36) and Jack Williams (25). The trio then counterattacked to set a par-target for the Northerners, but it would be far too much for them to chase. Matt Crosby (3/14) and Williams (3/11) had a spinner’s field day running through the hosts, taking only 30 overs to complete the rout and bolster its finals credentials heading into the final rounds.
NARRE WARREN v LYNDALE
Narre Warren (5/273) bounced away from the bottom with a sensational 111-run victory over Lyndale (162). The Magpies’ charge was left by Janaka Liyanabadalge (138), who helped rescue his side after two early wickets. With support from Wendell Perumal (40) and the skipper Kaushalya Weeraratne (43), Narre Warren set an impressive stage with the blade and finished it with the ball as Perumal (3/18) and Steve Woodward (2/23) cleaned up the Dales with seven overs to spare.
The win also ensures the Magpies can not be relegated in their first season back up to Turf 1 – making for plenty of celebrations at Sweeney Reserve.
VSDCA NORTH/EAST 1ST XI – ROUND 11 (One Day)
In the Subbies’ one-day round, Noble Park and Endeavour Hills had similar disappointing fortunes.
The Bulls were overrun by Brunswick (6/182) and the loss leaves Noble Park (118) hanging on by a thread to a finals chance. Issy Perera (3/26) was miserly as usual while Sanjeewa de Silva (25) was the best with the blade.
Noble Park has two rounds left to sneak into the finals and pray for other results to fall its way – starting this weekend against second-placed Mt Waverley.
Endeavour Hills (117) was blitzed by Plenty Valley (3/265) – especially the hosts’ opener Will Wright (137no). There wasn’t much the visitors could do to halt the Valley with bat or ball, as only a middle order stand from Luke Cody (29) and Richard Saniga (28) saved any face for the Eagles.
