Parkfield’s Brad Houghton plays a lofted leg glance as Berwick gloveman Brad Molineux reacts in anguish on Saturday. Picture: Meagan Rogers.By Paul Pickering and Marc McGowan
NORTH Dandenong has dethroned reigning premier Springvale South to earn the right to challenge Berwick in the Dandenong District Cricket Association grand final this weekend.
In a classic preliminary final at Alex Nelson Reserve, North Dandenong survived a lower-order batting collapse to secure a memorable one-wicket win in hostile territory.
Meanwhile, Berwick had the luxury of cruising past Parkfield with four wickets to spare at their Arch Brown Reserve fortress.
So while the combatants have had contrasting paths to this weekend’s grand final, there seems to be little separating the summer’s most consistent performers.
North Dandenong d Springvale South
The visitors claimed the first victory on Saturday, with skipper Adrian Baltruschaitis winning the toss and asking counterpart Craig Slocombe to bat.
But the flat deck offered little assistance to the North Dandenong bowlers as Bloods openers Lance MacDougall (76) and Steve Masterson (21) laid the foundations for a formidable total with a half-century partnership.
And despite losing a pair of quick wickets to be 2/58, MacDougall, Slocombe (65) and Andrew Sharp (60 not out) orchestrated a series of handy partnerships to guide the Bloods to 9/289 from their allotted 90 overs.
While North Dandenong struggled to take groups of wickets, the team received valuable service from Shane Clark (2/16), Carman Mapatuna (2/50) and Janahan Kumaralingham (2/65).
Responding on Sunday, North Dandenong made the worst possible start as Bloods all-rounder Danny Law dismissed opener David Bell for a duck.
But just as Springvale South had steadied on the first morning, North Dandenong rallied under the guidance of playing coach Glenn Finkelde (71).
And when Finkelde was joined by Mapatuna (102) at 2/79, the pair began to wrestle the ascendancy away from the Bloods.
An 80-run partnership took the visitors to 3/159 before Finkelde’s departure left Mapatuna to take over the innings.
But Mapatuna’s dismissal sparked a near-fatal shift in fortunes as Springvale South’s Damien Simmons (3/29) claimed three quick wickets to reduce North Dandenong to 9/288 – one run in arrears of the Bloods.
Ultimately, it was tail-ender Stuart Mack who would be the unlikely hero for North Dandenong, striking a famous boundary to book his team an appointment with Berwick. After the match, Finkelde praised his batsmen for an expertly constructed chase, but conceded that the prospect of a grand final berth may have unnerved his charges.
“In the last few overs we tensed up a little bit, but I suppose that’s to be expected,” he said. “We were always confident that we had the guys down the order to get the job done, but we just didn’t think we’d have to rely on them that much.”
After being eliminated from last year’s finals series by Berwick and suffering a hefty loss to the Bears earlier this season, North Dandenong will have to pull off an upset if they are to lift the trophy this weekend.
But Finkelde believes his team – which has won four of its past five matches – is running into some dangerous form.
“I think our fielding was the best it’s been all year on Saturday, and we’ve started to bat in partnerships, which is good,” he said.
“They’ve got some fantastic cricketers, but if we can get through (Gavan) Wills and (Alex) Roberts up the top of the order we’ll be well on the way.
“I think we give ourselves a pretty good chance.”
Berwick d Parkfield
Berwick will chase its second flag in three seasons after trumping Parkfield by four wickets at Arch Brown Reserve.
Captain Alex Roberts’ (85 not out) return to form and a breakout performance from 15-year-old James Wilcock (5/24) were the keys to the semi-final victory.
Parkfield batted first and a 74-run opening partnership helped it cruise to 2/96 before Wilcock was brought back into the attack with stunning success.
The talented teenager – who is being courted by Victorian Premier Cricket club St Kilda – rocked the Parkfield line-up, snaring five wickets in as many overs while conceding just four runs as the visitors slumped to 7/113.
Tony Payne (34) attempted to lift Parkfield, sharing in a 44-run union with Daniel Ferguson (16).
But when Payne was removed there was little fight left and Parkfield was dismissed for 164.
In reply, both Berwick openers and stars Gavan Wills and Ash Henry were out cheaply as the Bears fell to 4/58.
However, Roberts and Paul Evans (29) dug in and restored calm to Berwick’s innings. Evans was out on 112, but the Bears lost only one more wicket as wicketkeeper Brad Molineux helped Roberts compile the winning runs.
Henry is looking forward to having another crack at the grand final.
“North Dandenong is a quality side and has been all year,” he said. “We’ll need a good team performance where everyone contributes.”
Roberts is expected to return to the bowling crease after a two-match absence with the ball due to a knee injury.
