By Jonty Ralphsmith
The Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) T20 competition will reach its climax this Sunday when the final four are whittled down to two, before the final takes place at Shepley Reserve.
The semis will take place at 11am, Berwick facing North Dandenong at Shepley and Doveton squaring off against Buckley Ridges at Wilson Reserve, before the final at 3pm.
Buckley Ridges and North Dandenong will go in to the semis as favourites, with Doveton the only remaining team not from the Turf 1 competition.
The Doves found a way past powerhouse Springvale South to reach the semis, as well as beating Parkmore in the round robin phase of the tournament.
Marquee player Dale Tormey has bolstered the batting throughout the tournament, with the Doves’ success giving captain Nathan Wilson optimism they won’t be overawed.
“There is absolutely no expectation on us, it’s all on them,” Wilson said.
“We were the David v Goliath against Springy South and it’s the same this week.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen in t20 cricket.
“We’re going there with no expectation, being the underdogs.
“We know how classy they are, we’ll do our best to restrict them with the bat and see what happens.
“We’ll take pace off and we might go for 26 off an over or we might find something.”
Further assisting Doveton is that coach and opening hitter Mitch Daley is expected to return from a calf injury, while spinner Ryan Hendy, who missed the quarterfinal will strengthen the bowling.
Reaching the semis is an outstanding achievement for Doveton which just three seasons ago was languishing in Turf 4.
“It’s a justification for the hard work the guys off field are going,” Wilson said.
“I think we’re at our right level now in Turf 2.
“No one is saying job done and patting ourselves on the back, we don’t want to flatline, the recent results are proof of that.
“We’ve got so much improvement left in us.
“The difference between good and bad is too great at the moment, we just need consistency of performance.”
Doveton’s bowling has been its one-wood this season, particularly in the Turf 2 one-day competition, and it will need to be on against Buckley, which has scores of 6/249, 5/239 and 4/310 under its belt in the three matches so far – albeit, all on the notoriously small Park Oval.
Ben Wright is a batter the Doves will need to dismiss early, having made scores of 122 and 97 not out so far in the competition, while Michael Davies has also passed 50 twice.
Underlining Buckley’s depth Mahela Udawatte also has a century in the tournament and Hadigallage Jayaratne has a half-century to his name, meaning they have four of the top 10 run-scorers in the tournament.
With Tormey and Simon Mackie, however, Doveton has two of the top three run-scorers.
In the other game, Berwick has found its way through to the semis with wins over three Turf 3 sides: Lynbrook and Silverton in the round robin stage and Springvale in the qualifying finals.
Jordan Cleeland and Riley Siwes are a couple of key players to keep an eye on.
The Wickers face North Dandenong, which has eliminated three Turf 2 clubs: Lyndale, Heinz Southern Districts and Beaconsfield.
North Dandy has had a couple of wobbles so far, setting a target of just 133 for Lyndale which was just enough, before losing four relatively early wickets last game against Beacy before asserting dominance.
