By Helena Adeloju
THE bowlers were on fire and runs were hard to get in Turf One, with Narre Warren, Keysborough, Cranbourne, North Dandenong and Berwick all failing to reach their run targets, and a tie in the other match.
Springvale South and Buckley Ridges played out a tie to fill top positions on the ladder, and Coomoora bowler Rizan Mawzoon (4/49) was in fine form, bagging his season-best figures on a good bowling wicket.
@BT Sub Sport News:Springvale South tied Buckley Ridges
Buckley Ridges set Springvale South a solid 288 total to chase but it did not look beyond the classy Springvale line-up.
Captain Craig Slocombe (91) went close to his third century of the season and Timothy Ford (52) was on a roll before being run out.
Jason Quirk (46), Nick Bole-Brown (32) and Steven Masterson (27) all made strong contributions with the bat against an in-form Buckley Ridges attack that didn’t disappoint, with sound figures from Benjamin Watson (3/25), Anthony Clarke-Bruce (3/55) and Channa Gunawardana (2/35).
The match was a nail-biter. At one point, Springvale South needed 80 runs to win and had just two wickets in hand. The Springvale batmen reached the Ridges’ total, but two wickets fell late as the game ended in a tie. Splitting the points, the teams moved into the top two spots on the ladder.
@BT Sub Sport News:Hallam Kalora Park dKeysborough
Hallam Kalora Park had no trouble defending its strong total of 315, with Keyborough’s batsman surviving just 55 overs in posting an unimpressive 117.
With his side in trouble from the start as its openers struggled to make an impact, Keysborough’s Surad Uduman (31) was the only batsman to score more than 20 as Hallam Kalora Park’s bowlers picked up where the batsmen had left off.
Lee Brown (3/20), Cory Booth (2/9) and Nabeel Azimi (2/41) ensured a convincing victory, moving Hallam Kalora Park into the top three.
@BT Sub Sport News:Coomoora d Cranbourne
After a disappointing start to theseason, Coomoora found form forround three to come away with its first win of the season against Cranbourne.It was left up to Cranbourne’s middle-order batmen to ensure a respectable total after the openers had failed to impress.
Daniel Hunt (73) and youngster Lucas Ligt (38) did their best to lift the run rate but Coomoora’s bowlers had come out strongly, with Mawzoon recording season-best figures. Justin Woodman (3/42) and Mervan Fernando (2/33) also made strong contributions as their team capped off its best performance of the season.
@BT Sub Sport News:Parkfield d North Dandenong
Parkfield beat North Dandenong to lock in a second win of the season and move into the top five.
Middle-order batsmen Chris Clarke (53) and David Bell (52) were North Dandenong’s only hope as the openers failed to make an impact. But, their best efforts weren’t enough to repair the damage done, with a disappointing showing with the bat from the rest of the team.
Parkfield bowlers MarkButters (4/60) and Hemantha Alles (3/22) were on fire, and managedto keep North Dandenong’s run scoring under control. North Dandenong was all out for 172, 86 runs short of its target. With its first loss of the season, the round wasn’t kind to Dandenong, as it slipped from second to sixth overall.
@BT Sub Sport News:St Mary’s d Berwick
Chasing St Mary’s humble totalof 178, Berwick’s batsmen weren’tup to the task, as they were dismissed for 154.
Ashley Henry (38), Bradley Francis (32) and Gavan Wills 25 made most of the runs in a slow-scoring innings. St Mary’s bowlers came out firing, with Angelo Dmello (3/29) leading the charge, and Andrew Haining (3/35) posting his season-best figures. Steve Fernando (2/24) and Ron Prudham (2/32) also were among the wickets, with three Berwick bats out for aduck.
@BT Sub Sport News:Doveton d Narre Warren
Chasing Doveton’s imposing 9/293, Narre Warren was dismissed for 168.
