By Nick Creely
DANDENONG DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION
TURF 2-3
REVIEW – ROUND 1 (DAY TWO)
TURF 2
It’s almost certain that Dandenong West and Parkmore Pirates are going to be two sides to keep an eye on this Turf 2 season.
They both possess quality youth, and an abundance of experience to hold them in good stead for the pointy end of the season.
And their opening round clash at Greaves Reserve was a fascinating one, with the Pirates seeing off the Westers with just enough class with the ball.
The Pirates made the most of the conditions on day one, notching up 8/309 and having the home side 1/48 at stumps, but the Westers fought hard to even up the game when play resumed on Saturday.
Skipper Matt Collett (45) and veteran Peter Atkinson (70) started brightly to see the score skip out to 1/83, but a double strike – that of Collett to spinner Amal Athulathmudali (3/56) and Karthik Nadadur – put the Westers on the back foot at 3/88.
Seamer Niranjen Kumar (4/52) made life difficult for the home side, picking apart the middle order, but Atkinson stood tall amongst the pressure to fight his way to a half century.
Sidharth Nadadur (43) kept fighting, ensuring the Pirates couldn’t grab the points without a scrap, combining with Atkinson for a gritty 87 run partnership, but the wicket of the veteran for 70 brought about the collapse of the tail, with recruit Ammar Bajwa (2/23) helping the Pirates finally end them on 223 in a 67 over innings.
Down at Souter Oval, meanwhile, Cranbourne fought valiantly on day two to avoid an outright loss to Dingley.
With the Dingoes wrapping up the points on day one after declaring on 103 in response to the Eagles’ first innings score of 60, the Eagles went back to the crease at 1/19, determined to fight out the game.
Captain-coach Matt Blackman (27) and Martin Kelly (25) worked hard to build a partnership in the early stages, before Lucas Ligt’s excellent 70, showcasing his class, and a handy 34 not out to Breadyn Jansz helped the Eagles end the day on 8/202, showing some terrific signs that they can be competitive this season if they can start putting together more consistent performances.
Gun spinner Dinuk Hettarchchi (5/101) bowled well to be a handful all day, while Andrew Dalby snared three, taking his match figures to an astonishing 10/58.
Narre South also picked up a barnstorming win, picking up where they left off on day one to completely flatten Narre North at Strathaird Reserve.
The Rams resumed play at 5/20 in response to the Lions’ 199, with captain-coach Scott Phillips already with the freakish figures of 5/3.
Phillips ensured the Rams couldn’t settle even for a second, picking up two of the last five wickets to finish with 7/6 off 16 overs, astonishing figures as the visitors rolled meekly for 54.
Michael Ritchie snared 2/31 to be an excellent foil to his skipper.
Making the bowling spell even more incredible was the fact that Phillips bowled 12 maidens, and even took more wickets than runs scored against him, which is a rare occurrence.
Sending the Rams immediately back in, Phillips’ side looked like they would be outright bound after an opening over wicket, but fought out the game to finish on 6/159.
Jakeb McVicar (3/34) was the pick of the bowlers in the second innings, while champion all-rounder Ryan Hendy made 34 not out.
And in the final game of the opening round, Narre Warren (8/141) defeated St Brigid’s/St Louis (138) in a one-dayer at Bonbeach Oval.
TURF 3
Lynbrook picked up where they left off from last week, almost inflicting an outright loss on Silverton at Fotheringham Reserve.
The Bakers were always long shots to chase down the Lakers’ imposing 5/290 on day one, and it took a little over two hours for Chris Jarrett’s side to seal a win, rolling the home team for just 73.
Jay Walia (4/7) was sublime with the ball, while Danishvir Singh (2/14) also picked up multiple wickets.
Sending the Bakers back in to face the music once again, the Lakers had the home side 6/91, just four wickets shy of extra points.
Ryan Lowe (2/12), Walia (2/17) and Varun Singh (2/32) all impressed with the ball in the second innings.
Beaconsfield, meanwhile, got off to a rollicking start to it’s season, with gun recruit Jack Benbow ensuring the Tigers could claim an outright win over Parkfield.
The Tigers came into day two in a somewhat shaky position, sitting 3/48, still 57 runs short of the Bears’ first innings total.
Roshane Cooray (6/39) was outstanding, running through the middle order to have the Tigers 7/70, before Benbow (56) and Jake Cutting (25) got them over the line, and eventually bowled out for 144.
The Bears rolled over in just 39 overs in their second dig, with Benbow using his class to snare 4/27, giving the Tigers nine overs to score 47.
It took until the last three balls of the day for the Tigers to earn themselves an outright, with Alex Roberts (19) and Ben Casey (25) seeing them home unscathed.
In other matches, Lyndale (3/162) got off to a strong start by chasing down Coomora’s (159) total with ease in a one-day match at BJ Powell Reserve, after day one was abandoned, while Fountain Gate (159) fell short of Keysborough (226) at Rowley Allan Reserve,
