St Mary’s in the doldrums

By Marc McGowan
ST MARY’S miserable season has continued against Keysborough after conceding first innings points on the first day of its round three Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf One tussle at Carroll Reserve.
With heavy rain falling on Thursday it was always going to be tough batting conditions on the weekend, and the St Mary’s batsmen did nothing to dispel this belief, falling to 5/59 on their way to being all out for 92.
If not for a defiant 25 runs from Luke Byron the total would have been even more embarrassing.
Hemantha Alles revelled in the conditions and snared 5/36 for Keysborough.
Keysborough made hard work of the chase, but Shiran Rajakaruna (33) managed to stand strong.
With several solid contributions the team overtook St Mary’s total and will look for outright points this weekend.
Emmanuel Coomaraswamy (5/46) was deadly for the second straight week, but could not restrict Keysborough by himself.
Keysborough will resume at 7/121.
In the duel of the round, Springvale South has taken first-day honours against fellow undefeated side Narre Warren in round three Turf One action at Sweeney Reserve.
Springvale South comfortably moved to 1/68, but John Simpson (6/40) exploded into the contest as Springvale lost 5/0.
Jason Quirk (34) steadied the ship and helped guide his side to a competitive 145.
Narre Warren was on the back foot immediately and lost three wickets before it reached double figures, stumbling to 6/47 at stumps.
The damage was done by the unchanged duo of Danny Law (3/25) and Bobby Gray (3/19), who completed the 27 overs until the end of the first day’s play.
Buckley Ridges has put itself within striking distance of the top four after accounting for Dandenong West in its round three Turf One match at Greaves Reserve.
A formidable 206 from the Ridges was always going to be a tough ask for Dandenong West with Shane Simpson (62) headlining the impressive score.
Glen Scales did his best to contain the total with the tidy figures of 3/28 off 11 overs.
Dandenong West made a solid enough start, and at 2/100 would have felt confident about its chances.
A collapse of 4/8 put that to rest, however, and when Shane D’Rozario trapped Scales in front, Dandenong West had fallen 37 runs short of the total.
The match was the latest highlight in the D’Rozario show, and he rocked the Dandenong West line-up with amazing figures of 4/50 off 40.2 overs, complete with 18 maidens.
The Southern Pirates will be seeking their first points of the season this weekend after constructing a commanding first innings total of 9/240 against Parkfield in their round three Turf One clash at Parkfield Reserve.
On a bowlers’ weekend of cricket action, 240 will be a formidable target for Parkfield, although it may have the benefit of easier batting conditions for the chase of there is no rain this week.
Martyn Cull (85) and Mark Ryalls (59) were the batting stars for the Pirates and managed an 100-run partnership that dragged their side out of the doldrums after losing two early wickets.
Shane Doig was impressive again for Parkfield and bamboozled the Pirates’ batsmen to the tune of 4/52.
North Dandenong is primed to maintain its undefeated status after a devastating spell of bowling from its opening bowlers against Cranbourne in the teams’ round three Turf One encounter at Lois Twohig Reserve.
Cranbourne would have been relatively pleased to knock over the North Dandenong line-up for 135 and received an even contribution from its bowlers, but its batsmen were clearly not prepared for the bowling onslaught.
Stuart Mack (4/19) and Paul Court (3/37) roared through the brittle Cranbourne side, which never recovered and was teetering at 8/66 at stumps.
It was always going to be a mismatch, but Berwick has made a mockery of the Doveton bowlers in its round three Turf One game at Pargeter Reserve.
Berwick has steamrolled its opponents this season and Sunday was no different, as its batsmen defied the tough conditions to post 303 from the team’s allocated 80 overs.
Dave Hampton (103) announced himself to the season after a relatively quiet start and shared a 147-run alliance with the in-form Ash Henry (66).
The Doveton bowlers were workmanlike, Bradley Polson the best with 3/80, but he proved to be expensive as the figures came off only 21 overs.