By JARROD POTTER
WHILE the rain may have played havoc in round-four DDCA action, the cream still rose to the top as Steven Spoljaric (101) and Stuart Squires (137no) made batting look simple.
Parkfield v Springvale South
Difficult conditions might’ve fazed the top order against Springvale South (1/5), but Parkfield (220) batting maestro Steven Spoljaric (101) failed to be challenged by it as he raced to his seventh Turf 1 century. The Bears’ top order suffered as Tim Ford (6/82) went on a rampage, but Spoljaric and Jack Jones (27) resisted the crumbling top order effort to post a 77-run partnership, followed shortly by a 76-run stand between Spoljaric and Daniel Banhidi (45). The pair pushed Parkfield out of crisis before Spoljaric fell just after raising the bat. Banhidi found some help from the wagging tail to push Parkfield to 220 from its 77.2 overs. Yoshan Kumara (2/53) claimed the other pair.
North Dandenong v Buckley Ridges
The lower order revival from North Dandenong (129) gave its bowlers something to play with as Buckley Ridges (7/62) collapsed in reply.
The Norths’ top-order remained consistently fragile, with the first five batsmen contributing a cumulative 13 to the cause. Thankfully for North Dandenong, the tail wagged. George Russell (49) fell one-short of a well-deserved half century while gaining strong support from Jurgen Andersen (23) and Nasrat Mulkezada (20). The Ridges would’ve been happy with that effort as Jeremy Kuru (3/36), Dan Haasbroek (3/22) and Richard Hope (3/21) did the damage. The response was disastrous for Buckley Ridges, falling to seven-down as Shane Clark (4/7) made amends for his mediocre batting earlier in the day with exceptional bowling. Buckley’s last hope remains with Antonio Greenidge (35no) and some help from the tail.
Lyndale v Heinz Southern Districts
Lyndale (129) struggled away from home as Heinz Southern Districts (0/33) pushed most of the way to first innings points. Heinz bowler Michael Davies (5/48) was on fire as he almost took a hat-trick, only to be denied by Quyen Pham narrowly playing inside the hat-trick ball. Matt Cox (3/31) also got among the wickets before Achintha Rajapakse (21no) and Garrick Wiramanaden (12no) saw off the final 20 overs of the day. (No Lyndale scores available.)
Coomoora v Mordialloc
While the rest of the Mordialloc (191) order struggled, it was prime territory for opener Stuart Squires (137no). Coomoora flew through the rest of the Bloodhounds’ attack, but couldn’t claim the match-defining wicket of Squires. Carrying his bat, Squires was exceptional as the Kangaroos could only hope to dismiss his team mates and leave the Mordialloc opener to his own devices. Tim Bacic (3/34) was miserly from his 22 overs while Lance Baptist (2/18) and Luke Vincent (2/54) also helped the bowling effort.
Dandenong West v Hallam Kalora Park will be played as a one-dayer next week.
