By JARROD POTTER
Buckley Ridges, Springvale South, Parkfield and Mordialloc will contest the DDCA Turf 1 finals after securing their passage into the post-season.
HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS v PARKFIELD
STANDING up when its season was on the line, Parkfield (4/163) stormed into the finals with a six-wicket win over Heinz Southern Districts (139). Jarryd Williamson (44) and Tony Payne (39) set the stage with a 64-run partnership for the second wicket before both fell with 20 left to attain for first innings points. As per usual, the heavy lifting came from captain Steve Spoljaric (42 not out), who batted out the rest of the day with Southern Pioneers’ state champion Travis D’Souza (12 not out) to push the Bears into the semi-finals. Paul Stockdale (2/36) was the best of the Cobras’ strike force.
LYNDALE v MORDIALLOC
ONLY 12 runs stood between Lyndale (188) and a fitting farewell for retiring captain Rory Ingram (15), as the home side couldn’t quite reach Mordialloc’s (199) middling tally. Jaime Brohier (71) offered up more reasons for a Wookey Medal nod on Monday night, allying himself with Conal Ranatunga (38) and Dale Tormey (27) before he was run out by Lance Bence. From there the Lyndale attack lacked the needed structure to hold at bay the likes of Chathura Athukorala (3/40) and Nick Connellan (5/51). For more on Rory Ingram’s retirement, turn to Sports Page 68.
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v COOMOORA
PAYING the bills and keeping its head above water in the race for finals seems to be the lesson taken away by Springvale South (142 and 3/53) in its scant victory over Coomoora (106). Yoshan Kumara (4/55) and Ruwantha Kellepotha (3/29) tuned up before the finals with significant hauls while Rahoul Pankhania (53) had the only score of note on the Kangaroos’ card. Batting practice for Springvale South in the second innings was called off as soon as possible, leaving the Bloods with a week to gear up for its semi-final clash against Parkfield.
BUCKLEY RIDGES v DANDENONG WEST
AN EMPHATIC outright victory for Buckley Ridges (229 and 0/11) against Dandenong West (104 and 135) was enough to crown the Ridges DDCA Turf 1 minor premiers. The hard yards from Matt Goodwright (82) paved the way for a second innings tear-apart of the Bulls with Luke Fletcher (6/22) finishing the match on superhuman figures of 12/76. Jeremy Kuru (2/26) also chipped in with a couple to leave 11 to get to advance to the finals on an outright victory – which Dan Haasbroek (11 not out) kindly provided.
BERWICK v NORTH DANDENONG
THE Northerners (104 and 8/196) kept the wolves at bay to deprive Berwick (5/156dec) of outright success. Berwick couldn’t dislodge Syed Mehmood (61) or Shane Leonard (64) quickly enough to attain the outright as Nirmal Wickramaratne (3/43) and Ryan Crawford (3/54) seized the scalps.
