By Lachie Mitchell
Turf 3 were just happy to get back on the pitch after a washout the previous round.
Fans would have breathing a sigh of relief after the sun was shining on Saturday and Sunday to welcome a great weekend of cricket.
Saturday saw a day of expected results as Lynbrook easily accounted for Hampton Park by nine wickets as the Lakers continue to make their late run down the outside for a finals berth.
Springvale didn’t make the job easy for themselves as they played host to Coomoora.
Coomoora won the toss and put the runs on the board, with Charith Fernando (64) and Liam Hard (50) helping the Kangaroos post a 225 total.
Opener Harjinder Sohal helped the Demons out of a hole after they fell to 2/29 early. Hasindu Waduge helped Springvale late – winning by one wicket with one ball to spare.
Narre North found themselves in a hole …. again… when they were dismissed for 109 as they remain anchored to the bottom of the table.
Ricky Johnson helped skittle the Rams for the low total taking 2/9 after three overs.
Doveton made light work of the total reaching the target with eight wickets to spare.
Hampton Park once again were dismantled by their opposition falling to a nine-wicket loss.
Silverton made their way to a very strong 162 against Fountain Gate at Fotheringham Reserve on Saturday.
Clinton Gottinger (42) top scored for the Bakers as the wickets tumbled around him.
Fountain Gate looked in control but lost key wickets at key intervals limiting their chance at chasing the target down.
Dylan Hayes made his impression felt with the ball scalping 3/26 and drying up the runs and helping Silverton to a 28-run win.
Sunday cricket on a balmy Melbourne afternoon saw teams bounce back against the flow of play.
Hampton Park found some of the winning formula, getting the chocolate’s over Narre North by seven wickets.
James Kellett (61) helped chase the 151 score.
Lynbrook lost to Doveton by 24 runs. Doveton set 117 for victory and Lynbrook were in all sorts after Kaine Bundy found himself married with wickets as he halted the Lynbrook chase taking 2/8 in a match-winning performance .
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the clash between the last two spots in the final four, between Coomoora and Silverton, would be a nail bitter.
But the way Silverton put Coomoora to the sword was anything but, with Silverton putting on 182 in a strong first-innings ditch.
Robert North (57) was the guiding light for the Bakers on their path to the strong total. Coomoora would be hoping that the day was just a nightmare when they quickly fell to 3/24 and slowly the day unravelled for them.
Jesse McCarthy was at his best as he cleaned up with 5/21 in a dominating performance to dismiss the Kangaroos for 71.
Fountain Gate would be running on high after accounting for ladder-leaders Springvale on their path to a finals spot.
Springvale were in a spot of bother falling to 4/37 on their way to 117 in 40 overs. Jasdeep Singh found himself in the thick of the action with the ball taking 3/17.
Fountain Gate’s top order were crucial in reaching the target with 17 overs to spare .
Karandeep Singh (34) and Stephen White (28) were instrumental in seeing the Gators to one of the biggest upsets of the season.
