By Nick Creely
Doveton North’s (3/230) Prabhjot Singh tore Fotheringham Reserve apart on Wendesday night’s Round 1 action, scoring an astonishing 151 not out in their comfortable win over Silverton (2/155).
The whirlwind knock – which included 108 runs solely in boundaries – came after Singh came in at 1/20 after four overs.
Singh’s incredible feat is the second highest score in the competition’s history, with Buckley Ridges star Daniel Watson’s mind boggling 193 not out still clearly ahead and unlikely to be beaten any time soon.
But nonetheless, Singh – who plays Sunday Grade for the Lions in his first season for the club – put in one of the more extraordinary efforts in DDCA Twenty20 history.
The Bakers battled hard in reply, scoring 2/155 off their 20 overs – Aaron Baldsing (57 not out) and Enayatullah Samadi (69) both played fine knocks and did their best to keep up the run rate.
Heavyweights Berwick (3/155) and Hallam Kalora Park (6/154) also did battle, with the Bears chasing the Hawks’ total down with one ball to spare at Arch Brown Reserve.
After a strong start with the ball by the Bears, Jordan Hammond (39) slammed on three sixes and Ryan Hillard (27 not out) provided a late cameo to help lift them to a defendable total after at one stage being in trouble after a double strike by Matt Chasemore (2/24) in the middle of the innings.
Nathan Pilon (43 off 21 balls) immediately turned the game for the Bears, with Ryan Williamson (50 not out), Chasemore (31) and Michael Wallace (16 not out) playing strong knocks to guide the home side to victory.
The second century of the opening round came between Cranbourne (8/158) and St Mary’s (3/161), with Aaron West (113 not out) putting the Eagles to the sword.
After a brutal knock by Eagles’ marquee player Ryan Eaton (71), West – who plays for Upper Ferntree Gully – took just 16.1 overs to get the Saints home, hitting 15 boundaries and four maximums in his stellar knock.
Down at Alex Nelson Reserve, Springvale South (5/134) comfortably knocked off Dandenong West (3/133) by five wickets in a fairly predictable result.
Guided by an unbeaten half century to Tom Ewing (56 not out), the Westers put up a respectable score, but didn’t factor in that they would be bowling to Brett Forsyth – a man that has feasted on DDCA attacks in this competition for many years.
The Bloods’ marquee man and Dandenong champion thrilled the crowd with a whirlwind 52 off 22 balls to get the home side off to a strong start, before an impressive cameo from Andrew Staude (36 off 22 balls) saw them comfortably overtake the Westers after 16.5 overs.
Buckley Ridges (7/178) and Beaconsfield (8/115) played out a relatively one sided affair, with the Bucks getting their campaign off the perfect start.
It was fairly even team performance by the Bucks with both bat and ball, with skipper Troy Aust (45), Greg Todd (29), Susantha Pradeep (2/8), Matthew Goodwright (2/19) and Wes Nicholas (2/20) all contributing strongly.
Meanwhile, a dominant performance from Kaushyla Weeraratne and Michael Davies helped guide HSD (5/226) to a comfortable win over Parkfield (7/160).
With the bat, Weeraratne (94) and Davies (85 not out) thrilled with the crowd with their long range hitting, while Pathum De Mel (4/9) did the bulk of the damage with the ball as the Bears battled hard to keep up the run rate, with Melbourne batsman Jack Paynter also clubbing a brilliant ton.
Round 2 will begin on 1 November, with Hallam Kalora Park and Mordialloc at Hallam expected to be the main draw card.
Other matches
St Brigid’s/St Louis 1/125 (M.Jamieson 64*, V.Deshpande 39) def Lynrbook 9/124 (C.Gardinder 27, K.Love-Linay 2/21); Hampton Park 4/167 (M.Penn 75*) def Narre Warren 9/165 (T.Walker 46*, J.Russell 31, H.Ali 30, R.North 3/29, T.Lacey 2/9, T.Marshall 2/34); Mordialloc 9/129 (P.McDermott 73*, M.Brooks 3/38, J.Dowling 2/16) def Narre North 9/127 (J.Henry 79, D.Campbell 2/18, P.McDermott, D.Matarazzo 2/25); North Dandenong 7/162 (S.Mehmood 38, S.Fernando 34, S.De Silva 26, N.Malikzada 25) def Springvale 130 (S.Clark 3/10, M.Minhas 3/17); Dingley 5/171 (C.Otto 91, M.Hague 33, L.Sperling 3/27) def Narre South 111 (D.Hettiarchchi 3/13, T.Waring 3/21, C.Otto 2/10, M.Hague 2/15)
