Berwick ticked yet another box last weekend as it added Springvale South to its list of victims, beating the Bloods by four wickets in round 3 of the DDCA Turf 1 competition.
After winning the toss, Bears skipper Michael Wallace decided to bowl first and see if the pitch at Alex Nelson Reserve had any demons in it after some rain late in the week.
Mitch Forsyth started well and quickly settled into his innings, not looking to worried by the opening duo of James Trodd and Tom Davis.
Springvale South pushed the score to 30 before the first wicket of the day fell, Ryan Quirk gone for eight as Toby Wills snuck one through the gate.
Jordy Wyatt strolled to the crease, hit two early boundaries to add eight runs before Wills took another, trapping him in front of the stumps LBW, also for eight.
The Forsyth duo solidified as skipper Cam joined Mitch at the crease, putting on 32 runs before Mitch (29) was dismissed by Jarrod Goodes.
But from here, the Bloods dug deep as Fosryth (29) and Chathuranga De Silva (36) added 52 runs before the pair were dismissed in quick succession.
But not to worry for the Springy faithful as Blade Baxter (31) and Dasun Opanayaka (53) brought the side home beautifully to reach a total of 229 after the 45 overs. – Wills taking 3/40.
Now for the chase, it wasn’t going to be easy but Lachlan Brown and Jarryd Wills (both 29) made it look that way for a period of time, opening the chase with a 52-run stand.
They were both given out LBW, leaving Hancock (69) and Wallace (22) to push on, and they did it well.
Baxter (3/32) bowled both of them in the space of a few overs and this left Trodd to pick up the pieces, which he did perfectly as he scored 33 not out off just 20 balls and guided the Bears home with nine balls to spare.
In other games, Hallam Kalora Park got its first win of the season in convincing fashion as it defeated Narre South by 108 runs.
Batting first, the Hawks lost Jawid Khan (five) and Jagveer Hayer (12) early.
But Jordan Hammond (34) and Damith Perera (27) stabilised and began to get the scoreboard ticking, before some late Hillard brilliance pushed Hallam Kalora Park to a competitive total.
Benjamin (39 not out) and Ryan Hillard (50 not out) put on a 104-run partnership to guide the Hawks to 194 after 45 overs, giving them something to bowl at.
Khan (2/25) and Lee Brown (2/14) were brilliant with the ball as they ripped through the Lions’ batting order and bowled them out for 86 after just 28.5 overs.
Oshadha Ariyadasa (22) and Yevinn Weeraratna (21) were the only players to produce any resistance as their team fell well short of the runs.
Buckley Ridges made it three from three, as it easily chased down the target of 173 set by Parkmore Pirates last weekend.
The Pirates won the toss and batted first, with Jack Farrington’s half century the highlight of the innings, while Koby Brann (28), Lochana Premarathna and Avisha Wilwalaarachchi (both 20) also made starts.
It was a solid bowling performance from the Bucks as Triyan De Silva (3/36) and Harry Snowden (2/35) led the way.
Despite skipper Jayson Hobbs falling early in the run chase for nine when Parkmore skipper Niranjen Kumar got him LBW, the Bucks continued on.
Dale Tormey (59 off 31 balls), Ben Wright (40 not out) and Ayush Patel (45) helped Buckley Ridges chase the runs in the 30th over to win by six wickets – Bradley Van Twest took two wickets for the Pirates.
It was a big weekend for Springvale South and Dandenong West as the teams both played two matches, one on Saturday and their round 4 clash on Sunday against each other.
The Bloods won the toss and elected to bat on hot and windy day at Greaves Reserve, dominating from the outset.
Ryan Quirk and Mitch Forsyth opened the batting brilliantly to put on an opening partnership of 171 runs.
It looked as though both of them could reach their centuries as they cruised towards the 30-over mark, both going at almost a-run-a-ball when a Quirk-y dismissal struck.
Just 13 runs short of his century, Quirk’s partner Forsyth slapped the ball back towards bowler Joel Zietsman, deflecting off his hand and onto the stumps, catching Quirk short of his ground … run out at the non-strikers end on 87.
Maybe Forsyth was still thinking about potentially costing his teammate a ton when he was hit on the pads the following ball and given out LBW.
For 28 overs, Springy hadn’t looked like losing a wicket and now they had two blokes out in the middle who were both yet to face a ball.
However, Jordan Wyatt (32) and Blade Baxter (48 not out) saw the Bloods to a huge total of 309 after the allotted 45 overs.
It was a gallant effort from Dandenong West in the run chase as they made 227, with big contributions from Anthony Brannan (61), Dinesh Nuwan Kulasekara (46), Liam Richardson (33 not out) and Don Pulukkuttiarachchi (32), but it was never enough.
Straker led the way for the Bloods taking 3/49, while Baxter, Opanayaka and Nicholas Boland took two wickets each.
