Hallam Kalora Park made it five wins in a row against Berwick on the weekend in round 10 of Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) Turf 1 action, winning by six wickets.
By round five, the Hawks had won only one match and lost outright on two occasions, but they have turned their season around and not put a foot wrong since, making another big statement to the competition.
The Hawks won the toss and sent the Bears into bat, starting well with early wickets to have Berwick in trouble at 3/13 after seven overs.
While Michael Wallace and Jarryd Wills steadied briefly, Berwick was eventually bowled out for just 102 as Shaveen Ranawaka (3/29) and Jawid Khan (3/21) led a dominant bowling performance.
Chasing a low total, Hallam Kalora Park lost Khan early with the score at 1/6, but a superb partnership between Jagveer Hayer and Damith Perera turned the match decisively in their favour.
The pair added 82 runs, with Hayer making 30 and Perera 45, leaving the Hawks just short of victory when they were dismissed.
Berwick spinner Elliot Mathews finished with 2/21, but Ryan Hillard (8 not out) swept Vinuda Liyanage for four to seal the win in the 23rd over.
In other games, Buckley Ridges remains on top of the ladder after thumping Dandenong West by 147 runs.
The Bucks won the toss and batted first, opening with in-form Dale Tormey, who had hit 91 earlier in the week in a T20 match and another 91 the previous weekend – Tormey and Ayush Patel put on 51 before Tormey (24) was dismissed.
Patel (49), Ben Wright (40) and Ishan Jayarathna (48) went big to lift the Bucks to 216, with Joel Zietsman and Malinga Bandara taking two wickets each.
In reply, Dandenong West was bowled out for 69 off 29 overs, with only one batter reaching double figures.
Zietsman (20 not out) top-scored at number nine, while Bradley Sheehan and the extras were next best with eight.
Jayarathna (2/8), Michael Davies (2/10) and Triyan De Silva (4/17) did the damage with the ball.
Springvale South bounced back from last week’s loss against Hallam Kalora Park with a convincing eight-wicket victory over Narre South.
After Narre South slipped to 3/21, Vineth Jayasuriya (42) and Adam Snelling (74) lifted the total to 172 as Nick Boland starred with 5/26 off 6.3 overs, supported by Jarryd Straker with two.
In the chase, Cameron Forsyth (71 not out) and Dasun Opanayaka (49 not out) carried the Bloods home after both openers were dismissed, reaching the target with 4.4 overs to spare.
Beaconsfield claimed its fourth win of the season, defeating the winless Parkmore Pirates by nine wickets.
Parkmore was bowled out for 54, with Mitch Tielen taking a remarkable 5/16 off eight overs – Jordan Gwynne (18) top-scored in a tough innings.
The Tigers lost Jayden Cramer early in the chase, but Jack Steel (41 not out) and Abaseen Taniwal (11 not out) guided Beaconsfield to victory in just the 12th over.
