Right: Buckley Ridges batsman Paul Rudd (36) was instrumental in his club defeating Narre Warren at Park Oval on Saturday.By Marc McGowan
THE tight race for Turf One finals spots is well and truly alive with one round to go in the Dandenong District Cricket Association.
@BT Sub Sport News:Buckley Ridges d Narre Warren
NARRE Warren’s chances of tasting its first Turf One finals action suffered a severe blow after a three-wicket loss to Buckley Ridges at Park Oval on Saturday.
The Magpies must now defeat Cranbourne outright in the final round or rely on Doveton to upset Springvale South to have any shot at the premiership.
Resuming at 5/72 and chasing 145, the Ridges lost all-rounder Shane D’Rozario (29) to slump to 6/97, but Paul and Glen Rudd guided their side to the brink of victory. David Wheeler helped the latter clean up the final few runs for the win.
@BT Sub Sport News:Berwick d St Mary’s
BERWICK smacked St Mary’s by eight wickets on the back of another stellar Alecs Roberts performance at Arch Brown Reserve on the weekend.
The English import has slaughtered attacks since Christmas, averaging 129.33 this year.
Roberts cracked 132 and Gavan Wills (110 not out) scored his first ton of the season on their way to a 173-run partnership.
Berwick finally finished on 4/321 as the Bears easily passed St Mary’s meagre total of 8/200.
@BT Sub Sport News:Doveton d Parkfield
DOVETON produced the upset of the round to topple Parkfield by three wickets at Robinson Reserve on Saturday.
The loss removed the Bears from the top four and they will need to defeat Berwick and rely on other results going their way to make the finals.
The Doves began the day with a 254-run winning target and fell to 2/39.
From there, Doveton assumed control with a host of contributors, including Ryan McMurray (75 with five fours and four sixes) and Ryan Hendy (47).
Shane Doig was the pick of the bowlers with 6/93, but the Doves proved too good.
@BT Sub Sport News:Springvale South d Cranbourne
CRANBOURNE received a 145-run spanking at the hands of Springvale South at Casey Fields on the weekend.
The Eagles began their pursuit of the Bloods’ 337 well with a 75-run opening wicket stand, but disaster struck from then on.
Six batsmen combined for just two runs as Cranbourne fell to 6/118 before eventually being bowled out for 192.
Bobby Gray was the chief destroyer with 3/22, ahead of two others with multiple wickets.
@BT Sub Sport News:North Dandenong d Dandenong West
NORTH Dandenong looks to have booked itself a finals place with a thrilling 6-run triumph over Dandenong West at Greaves Reserve on Saturday.
Dandenong West started at 4/62 with a further 119 runs required for victory, but quickly dropped to 7/103.
With the game seemingly over, captain Peter Lindsay (52 not out) and Anthony Brannan (17) set about resurrecting their side with a 54-run alliance.
The wicket of Brannan put the result in question once again, before Paul Court (2/34) uprooted Matt Meehan’s stumps to give his side success.
Stuart Mack finished with 5/69.
@BT Sub Sport News:Keysborough d Southern Pirates
KEYSBOROUGH comfortably accounted for the Southern Pirates by 45 runs at Wachter Reserve on the weekend.
The Pirates resumed at 3/30 in reply to their opponents’ 210 and made a great start.
Their fourth wicket did not fall until 98, but another two fell in quick succession to leave them at 6/109.
Southern Pirates continued to fight hard behind the contributions of Chamath Jayaweera (55) and Stuart Dalton (44), but Keysborough’s discipline proved too much in the end.
The win keeps Keysborough’s slim finals hopes alive.
