By Jonty Ralphsmith
Beaconsfield and Lyndale have closed off the pre-Christmas block of games with stylish victories over Cranbourne and Doveton respectively.
In doing so, they’ve affirmed themselves as the pace-setters of the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) Turf 2 competition, sitting in first and second place.
Tyler Clark continued feasting on runs, top-scoring for Mark Cooper’s men with a 100-ball 41 which held the first half of Beaconsfield’s innings together.
The steady, almost-two-hour knock lifts Clark above Keysborough Yohan Arumadura to the top of the run-scoring tally for the league in the first half of the season, with 287.
The right-hander saw off a miserly five over spell upfront from left-arm tweaker Peter Sweeney, whose first six overs yielded three maidens and leaked just five runs, before eventually being dismissed when Sweeney returned to the bowling crease later in the innings.
Sweeney, who tops the competition’s wickets tally, finished with three wickets and Harsaroup Singh with two as Cranbourne denied the hosts any rhythm late in the innings by running through the middle order.
The middle order was again forced to do the heavy lifting for Cranbourne in a low-scoring game.
Needing 142 for victory, seam-up bowlers Jake Cutting and Callan Tout both broke through early to have Cranbourne 3/20.
The pair finished with a wicket each and both had an economy rate of less than two from their seven overs, building up pressure on Cranbourne which Peter and Mick Sweeney briefly relieved with a controlled partnership.
But just as those two looked to guide their team to victory, leggie Mark Cooper claimed Peter Sweeney for 15, and then eventually Mick for 25.
That was the story of the rest of the innings, as Matt Collett (27) and Pardeep Boyal (20) also got starts they could not go on with.
After conceding 10 runs from his first over, Jack Burchill’s next four overs yielded 3/8 as he put paid to any thoughts of the tail wagging Cranbourne to victory.
The 16-run defeat means Cranbourne, still viewed a legitimate premiership contender, sits just a game above bottom-of-the-table Keysborough at the midpoint of the season.
It’s Mick Sweeney’s men fourth loss in five games as they have been unable to inject any momentum into the season.
Meanwhile, Lyndale’s victory was impressive because of its commanding bowling performance.
After Doveton’s Nathan Wilson chose to bat first, Mitch Daley, batting without a helmet, helped himself to four boundaries square of the wicket early before being trapped in front.
After that, it looked a struggle to survive, let alone score, for the Doves, scoring just four more boundaries for the remainder of their innings.
They snailed their way up to 85, before being bowled out off 42 overs when Kaine Bundy was adjudged LBW.
After seamers Zubair Faruk and Farzur Rahman heaped pressure on early, spinners Rajika Fernando and Surien Silva extracted spin that tied down and got through the middle order.
Amid the carnage at the other end, middle-order bat Bundy again demonstrated his ability to play the anchor role for Doveton, facing more than 100 balls for the second consecutive week.
Knowing they needed to bowl Lyndale out to have any chance of winning, Wilson relied on himself and spinner Ryan Hendy to carry the lion’s share of the bowling, the pair delivering 24 of the 30 overs.
In claiming five wickets – to make it 14 in three weeks – Hendy made matters interesting but his team just didn’t have enough runs to work with, ultimately going down by three wickets.
At Parkfield, Stephen Cannnon sent Keysborough into bat and, as the visitors have done on multiple occasions throughout the season, the Borough clawed their way up to a competitive total.
Without having one player who has taken the season by the scruff of the neck, Keysborough has scored the most runs so far this season despite sitting at the bottom of the table.
This week, Jonathan Mohamed (36 off 97) controlled the early part of the innings, while Jacob Hennigan (27 off 33) showed more intent in their important second-wicket partnership.
In his second game in the first XI this season, Tobey Harkin top-scored with 38, while lower-order batters Mehakdeep Singh and Daniel McConville upped the ante late to propel the visitors to 8/177.
In pursuit, Dishan Malalasekera scored his third half-century of the season, his 68 off 106 mostly coming with club stalwart Travis D’Souza – who got going for the first time this season with 61 off 92.
That pair guided Parkfield to victory with 28 balls to spare.
Meanwhile, Heinz Southern Districts and Narre Warren didn’t get on the park due to the state of KM Reedy Reserve.
The soft and slippery outfield led to the umpires declaring the playing surface unplayable.
The clash would likely have proven significant in the context of the season, with the teams sitting third and fourth on the ladder in a tight season.
It would’ve been HSD’s first home bout of the season after having to relocate their previous matches due to the poor condition of the ground.
