Tons of fun for Spoljaric

The bails fall on Berwick's Cory Bevan on Saturday. Pictures: ROB CAREW

By Nick Creely

Crafting a century takes skill, application, as well as physical and mental fitness.

Yet DDCA legend Steven Spoljaric, the five time Wookey medalist and Ryder medal winner makes them look so easy, as if he hasn’t even broken a sweat.

His 18th in the association (122) in just 97 games came on Saturday for Springvale South in Round 4 of the Turf 1 season, against a highly quality Hallam Kalora Park bowling group, helping set up an imposing 312 for the Hawks at Frawley Road.

It was very much a classic Spoljaric knock – pushing singles early, being patient and then accelerating like no other player in the competition.

After Michael Vandort was trapped LBW in the opening exchanges after some quality new ball bowling by Jordan Hammond, Spoljaric strode to the middle with his usual calmness.

As he normally does, aggressive opener Nathan King (39) took to the bowlers, allowing Spoljaric to work his way into the innings superbly.

A double strike by Steven Gilmour (2/19) had the Bloods reeling at 3/61, but Spoljaric continued to play his way, constructing partnerships with Tim Ford (16) and Malinga Bandara (52) before going on and reaching the three figures in aggressive fashion.

Ironically, Spoljaric was run out on 122. In reality, it was the only way to nab his prized scalp.

Some late runs by Jarrod Armitage (39 not out) saw the Bloods cross the 300 mark in a dominant day for Craig Slocombe’s side.

But with the likes of Ben Hillard, Leigh Booth, Hammond, Jagveer Hayer and Jaime Brohier, the Hawks will fancy their chances of chasing down the taunting total.

Down at Park Oval, Buckley Ridges flexed their muscles and inflicted North Dandenong with misery, wrapping up first innings points as they now eye an outright.

The Bucks have been irresistible in the early stages of the season, and continued their fine form.

Winning the toss and batting proved to be the fateful call for skipper Asfan Thajudeen, with the Maroons succumbing to the new ball skill by Jurgen Andersen (5/29) and Daniel Watson (3/15), with the visitors rolled for just 51.

Watson and Andersen bowled with great skill and pace, completely blanketing an in-form batting side.

Captain-coach David White lost his wicket early, but the fireworks of Watson (34 off 22 balls) saw the Bucks quickly surpass the Maroons and build an impenetrable lead.

Cameos by Troy Aust (55 not out) and fireworks by Ben Watson (54 not out off 21 balls) lifted the score to 6/205, before leaving the Maroons reeling at 2/38 at stumps.

Troy Aust gets set to launch for Buckley Ridges.

Watson (2/3) has both the wickets in the second innings. The Maroons will be scrambling to bat the day out and add some respectability to what was a tough opening day.

Star all-rounder Kaushalya Weeeraratne, meanwhile, had a day to remember as HSD flattened Berwick at Reedy.

The highly fancied Bears were skittled for 106 in the 36th over after being sent in, with Weeraratne snaring 5/23.

Prized scalp Nathan Pilon was back in the sheds early, and his departure brought about a middle order collapse, with skipper Matt Chasemore also struggling to get going despite reaching 20.

Lower order batsmen Jack Phillips (20) and Cory Bevan (30) salvaged something from the wreckage, putting together some late runs to give something for the bowlers to work with.

The Cobras had plenty of reasons to celebrate after taking first innings points against Berwick.

The confidence seeped through with the bat as Weeraratne clubbed a stunning 109 not out, with the Cobras 4/190 at stumps.

But at one stage it appeared the Bears could pull of a stunner, picking up three early wickets to have the Cobras 3/36, before Weeraratne completely blew the visitors away with an innings that seemingly came out of nowhere.

Reigning Wookey winner Michael Davies is 40 not out at stumps, with three sixes and four boundaries next to his name.

And Mordialloc’s struggles continued despite a blazing 91 to new recruit, former international Nuwan Kulasekera, with St Mary’s 1/26 and in a comfortable position to snare a victory at Carroll Reserve.

The reigning premiers entered Saturday under some heat after starting the season with three consecutive losses, and seemed destined for another tough day at the office with gun all-rounder Ruwantha Kellepotha (5/49) and Luke Davis (2/8) starting superbly with the new ball.

The key scalp of Ian Daniel (13) was found early, and the Bloodhounds buckled under the pressure, finding themselves 5/41 and in desperate need of consolidation.

Kulasekera provided just that, playing the aggressor while skipper Dylan Campbell stuck around, slotting five sixes before falling just short of his ton in a dynamic innings. The Bloodhounds gave themselves a fighting chance by reaching 166.

Campbell picked up a late wicket, but Rhys Serpanchy (14) and skipper Kaushalya Gajasinghe (9) got through to stumps and will be eyeing off a strong win.