By Nick Creely
DANDENONG DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION
TURF 1 & 2
REVIEW – ROUND 2 (Day 1)
TURF 1
BERWICK v BUCKLEY RIDGES
If Saturday’s tight tussle between Berwick and Buckley Ridges at Arch Brown Reserve is anything to go by, these two sides are likely to be around the mark at the pointy end of the season.
So evenly matched with talent, the Bucks were sent in by Bears’ skipper Jarrod Goodes.
Despite in-form opener Jayson Hobbs falling early to quickie James Wilcock (5/52), Daniel Watson (84) and Suren Ekanayake (34) put on 88 runs for the second wicket, putting them in a strong position.
When Watson finally departed after yet another stellar knock full of boundaries and crisp hitting, the Bears – largely off the efforts of Wilcock, Goodes (1/31), Cory Bevan (2/18) and Adam Watson (2/6) – managed to peg the score back to 188 all out.
With 22 overs left to play, the Bears emerged on top – but only just – walking off the ground 1/68, with only Ryan Williamson (29) back in the sheds after a fine knock at the top.
Darren de Souza (22 not out) and Ryan Crawford (8 not out) will resume play on Saturday.
And with 121 runs to get and nine wickets for Buckley to acquire, the game is well poised, and could go either way, such is the talent riddled within both teams.
CRANBOURNE v ST MARY’S
Rising DDCA and Cranbourne star Nivin Sathyajith took yet another exciting step forward on Saturday, with the classy middle order batsman helping pull his side out of a hole against St Mary’s on Saturday with a sensational 62.
On a pitch conducive to spin bowling, the Saints sent the Eagles in, and it didn’t take long for the spinners to be welcomed in to the attack, with Kaushyla Gajasinghe (3/24) and Ruwantha Kellepotha (4/54) feasting on the top order.
Reeling at 4/68, Sathyajith – the youngster who plays Under 17s for the Eagles – withstood immense pressure as his more senior team-mates continually fell around him.
“His maturity is almost of a 24 or 25-year-old to be honest, his temperament is just amazing,” Cranbourne skipper Lucas Ligt said.
“Just the way he was playing the spinners with such ease, he’s a seriously good young player.”
Sathyajith was the last man out as the Eagles crawled their way to a competitive 168, but not before striking eight fours laced with class and even lifting a six out of the ground in a terrific counter-attacking display.
Ligt was disappointed with his side’s efforts for the most part, lamenting the shot selection and ability to occupy the crease, but remains confident his side will bounce back in defending their total.
“We honestly expected a little bit more (with the bat) – all of the dismissals were our own doing,” he said.
“We knew they’d (the spinners) tie us down, and the loss of early wickets really hurt us.
“It was a pretty good little wake up call, I think – I gave my first little spray to the boys, told them it wasn’t a joke and if they want to take the piss, they can go elsewhere.”
“They responded really well, and we’re ready for a big week on the track and come out and defend the total.”
At stumps, the Saints are 1/12 off seven overs, with Jake Harrington (1/2) snaring the early scalp of star bat Rhys Serpanchy (8).
“We’re confident – we’re going to be a lot tighter this week and use spin a lot more,” Ligt said.
“There’s a lot of weak batsmen for them (St Mary’s).”
MORDIALLOC v DANDENONG WEST
Mordialloc’s abundance of class and precision proved an unwelcome sight for Dandenong West at Ben Kavanagh Reserve, with the Bloodhounds ending day one in a dominant position.
Despite young spinner Riley Siwes (6/55) putting on a terrific display with the ball, Ian Daniel (93) and Hari Krishan (89) combined for 164 runs, 22 boundaries and seven maximums to lift the home side to 217 off just 58.3 overs.
Daniel – who sparkled with an outstanding 123 in Round 1 – almost made it two centuries to begin the season and glued the batting side together brilliantly.
The Westers could do very little to stem the bleeding with 21 overs of batting left in the day, as Dylan Campbell (3/16) took their top order apart to leaving them reeling at 5/54 at stumps.
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v NORTH DANDENONG
It’s a question most DDCA Turf 1 cricketers are likely to be asking themselves – Will Steve Spoljaric ever stop dominating the competition?
The answer is an unequivocal no, with the legendary all-rounder putting North Dandenong to the sword with an incredible 7/20 off 20 overs, a spell that included an astonishing 12 maidens.
It is the second time Spoljaric has taken seven wickets in an innings at DDCA level, as the Maroons were bundled out for just 88.
Malinga Bandara (3/32) was also impressive, as the two combined for 31 overs between them.
In reply, Nathan King (38) played an early cameo, and despite a little scare in the middle order with quickie Gayantha Wijethilaka (4/44) doing some damage in his first game for the club, skipper Craig Slocombe (29 not out) and Spoljaric (29 not out) put on an effortless 57-run partnership.
The Bloods declared after just 33 overs and 135 runs on the board, and snared a wicket before stumps to leave the Maroons 1/18 in their second dig, still 29 runs shy of making Springy South bat again.
NARRE WARREN v HALLAM KALORA PARK
Twin centuries to Leigh Booth (109) and Thalaivan Xavier (125) saw Hallam Kalora Park completely crush Narre Warren on Saturday, as the Magpies’ tough start to the season rolled into another week.
Ben Hillard (34) and Booth slammed on 87 runs for the first wicket, before Booth and Xavier compiled a flawless 139 run partnership, with both batsmen carving their way to glorious centuries.
It was Booth’s ninth century as a Hawk, while Xavier got his maiden century at the club in what is just his second match for the Hawks.
The Hawks lifted themselves to 5/296 in dominant fashion before declaring after Jagveer Hayer was stumped off Janaka Liyanabadalge (3/76).
The Magpies managed to get through the day fairly unscathed at 1/32, with just Jarrod Russell falling LBW to Steve Gilmour (1/4).
But it’s a long way back for the Magpies, who need to pull a genuine rabbit out of the hat to win next week.
HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS v DINGLEY
The Cobras and Dingoes are playing out a well-poised contest down at Reedy Reserve, with the Dingoes requiring a further 118 runs for victory.
Winning the toss and batting, left arm spinner Dinuka Hettiarchchi (7/24) was simply sublime, helping keep the Cobras to just 146 off 62 overs.
Incredibly, Hettiarchchi bowled 26 overs and 11 maidens, with the Cobras’ middle order simply having no answers.
But after being 2/1, it could have been worse for the home side, with Michael Davies (47) and James Van Elewoud (26) lifting late to give them something to bowl to.
The Dingoes lost two early scalps to be 2/29 at stumps, with prized wicket Matt Hague (5) back in the sheds early after being trapped LBW by Kaushyla Weeraratne.
TURF 2
In Turf 2, Beaconsfield (2/40) is in the box seat to move to 2-0 against Lynbrook (134), with the Tigers requiring just 95 more runs to win, Ali Mortaza (106)and Scott Phillips (84) once again dominated to lift Narre South (328) into a dominant position against Narre North (1/11), while Parkmore (9/318) are flying after a second glorious century in a row from Amal Athulathmudali (148) against Keysborough (2/47).
In other matches, St Brigid’s/St Louis (196) and Silverton (7/112) are well poised at Bondi Oval, Parkfield (184) and Coomoora is set to be a tight match, while Fountain Gate (9/160) has already taken the points over Lyndale (93).
