Dandenong West Turf One bowler Glen Scales in full flight against Narre Warren on Saturday.
By Glen Atwelland Marc McGowan
THE Southern Pirates beat North Dandenong on the last ball of the day in their Dandenong District Cricket Association one-day Turf One match at Lois Twohig Reserve on the weekend.
Batting first, North Dandenong (Shane Clark 46, Steven Fisher 4/26) amassed 6/179 at the end of its 40 over innings and would have been confident of collecting the six points on offer.
But a superb innings of 84 not out by Pirates batsman Martyn Cull ensured Southern victory.
Cull carried his bat and was well supported by Stuart Dalton (34).
Scott Neeson (4/31) was the only North Dandenong bowler to capture any wickets.
BUCKLEY Ridges recorded a comfortable 36-run victory against Springvale South in their one-day Turf One match at Park Oval on Saturday.
Batting first, Buckley was reeling at 5/46 before Shane Simpson (31) and Glen Rudd (51) steadied the Ridges ship and guided its total past 100.
Important contributions from Daniel Watson (28) and Tim Smart (36) kept the scoreboard ticking over and ensured Buckley Ridges would post a competitive total.
Daniel Law (3/21) and Lance MacDougall (3/55) were the pick of the Springvale bowlers.
In reply, Springvale collapsed after a promising start launched by a big innings to Law (72).
From 2/104, Springvale was soon 8/141 as six of its batsmen failed to score in the double digits.
Westley Nicholas did the bulk of the damage, taking 4/38 as Springvale slumped to be all out for 174.
KEYSBOROUGH caused the season’s biggest upset by conquering the previously undefeated Berwick by five wickets at Arch Brown Reserve on Saturday.
Berwick batted first and reached 54 before Warren Dickman (1/38) uprooted Alexs Roberts’ stumps.
Wickets then fell regularly and only Gavan Wills (58 not out) managed to stem the tide as Berwick made 6/182.
Mahesh Karunaratna did the bulk of the damage with 3/38 off his eight overs.
Despite Dickman (3) falling early, Keysborough forged ahead, and a 72-run alliance between Chris David (45) and Andrew Powell (64) set the foundations for the win with four overs to spare.
DOVETON’S charge towards the top four continued with a slender two-run triumph over bottom-side St Mary’s at Robinson Reserve on the weekend.
Doveton all-rounder Ryan Hendy (99) was sensational again and belted 15 fours and two sixes on the way to orchestrating his side’s 7/219.
His biggest support came from the St Mary’s bowlers, who provided 42 extras to the total.
Troy Cashman (78) hit his highest total of the season for St Mary’s from the top of the order and had allies in Jonathan Parsons (31) and Michael Turner (28), but an astounding five run-outs ruined their cause.
NARRE Warren crushed Dandenong West by 76 runs to end its miserable run of losses at Greaves Reserve on Saturday.
Fine contributions from Vinay Tripathi (54) and captain-coach Wendell Perumal (46), and a blockbuster 56 from 35 balls by Bill O’Loughlin carried Narre Warren to 6/236 at the end of 40 overs.
The Magpies then wreaked havoc with Dandenong West’s top order and had the team at 3/29 before a mini-recovery took it to 3/88.
Perumal (4/19) entered the fray and destroyed the rest of the line-up for 160 to take his side to victory.
PARKFIELD moved into fifth place with a dominant 75-run thrashing of Cranbourne at Parkfield Reserve on the weekend.
Some late hitting by Parkfield’s Grant Milnes (42 not out) took the score to 150 after 40 overs, and that score proved to be more than enough.
Cranbourne’s first wicket fell with the score on 1 and Richard Price (5/14) and Shane Doig (3/11) scorched through the rest of the batting order, bowling the team out for just 75 runs in 25.5 overs.
Only Cranbourne captain Ross Woodall (16) and Matthew Moore (16) managed double figures.
