It was a huge weekend of action in the DDCA, with two-day matches played across Saturday and Sunday, with several matches producing outright results and big individual performances.
Dandenong Park Oval hosted the Turf 1 clash between the formidable Buckley Ridges and Narre South, with a staggering 726 runs scored across the match.
The win means that the Bucks remain on top of the ladder and head into two huge regular season matches against Springvale South and Hallam Kalora Park with great form.
Buckley Ridges captain Jayson Hobbs applauded the performances from his batters, helping the side to a huge score.
“It was a good result for us, that is what we try and pride ourselves on, big partnerships and keep opposition teams guessing,” he said.
“We want to build towards the end and accelerate.
“We know we’ve got good firepower throughout the whole lineup and if we are able to get those big partnerships, it allows us to strike at the end, which we did again.”
The Bucks dominated from the outset, posting 427 on day one thanks to centuries from Dale Tormey (157) and Ben Wright (106).
Tormey, who had already recorded scores of 91 and 89 earlier in the season, finally broke through for triple figures in emphatic fashion, blasting 24 fours and three sixes.
“Dale has been threatening to do something like that, and the thing is, I think he still has more in him,” Hobbs said.
“He has building towards that hundred, and a big hundred.
“He gave one chance early, but other than that, he played shots all over the ground and looked in control.”
The left handed opening batter now has 612 runs across the Turf 1 matches, and a mammoth 905 runs across all matches, at a strike rate of 167.59.
Tormey’s innings included three consecutive fours off Tom Arnold to move from 92 to 104 in just three deliveries and raise the bat.
He put on key partnerships of 159 with Ayush Patel (68) and 136 with Wright, while Ishan Jayarathna added a composed 69 not out off only 56 balls.
Deeshan Umagiliyage battled hard for Narre South, taking three wickets but was unfortunately the third ton of the day, conceding 106 runs from his 21 overs.
Narre South’s reply began disastrously when opener Kyle Hardy edged the third ball of the innings to the keeper, leaving the Lions 1/4.
“We got one early and we had one go down early, we could’ve had them 2/0 and then we just had to fight hard,” Hobbs said.
“We were always in control of the game, but it would’ve been nice to finish them off probably 50-80 runs before we did.”
Jawed Hussaini (63) and captain Jeevan Mendis (91) showed great resilience to steady the innings, but Harry Snowden removed both as wickets continued to fall.
Despite gritty efforts from Umagiliyage (32) and Liam Sheehan (32 not out), Narre South was bowled out for 299.
Hussain Ali (3/32) and Snowden (3/52) led the way as Buckley Ridges moved to 10–1 for the season.
Ashen Hettinayaka was unable to play due to commitments with Frankston in Victorian Premier Cricket Under-18s; therefore Adharsh Kannan made his debut and took his first wicket at the level.
Hallam Kalora Park locked in fourth spot with an outright win over Parkmore, driven by a nine-wicket match from fast bowler Will Whyte.
Parkmore collapsed for 102, with Whyte (3/31), Leigh Booth (2/1), Lee Brown (2/18) and Jawid Khan (2/29) sharing the wickets.
Half centuries from Benjamin Hillard (55), Damith Perera (68) and Austin Fardell (51) lifted the Hawks to 4/185 before a declaration at 6/242 on day two.
Parkmore threatened briefly through Ankit Saxena (31) and Harmanpreet Singh (57), but Whyte returned to rip through the tail with 6/43 as the Pirates were bowled out for 121.
There was plenty happening at Beaconsfield Recreation Reserve, where 26 wickets fell across the weekend in a dramatic match between Beaconsfield and Berwick.
The Tigers were skittled for just 49 after winning the toss and batting first, with James Trodd (4/12), Jarrod Goodes (3/9) and Toby Wills (2/5) proving unplayable.
Berwick responded strongly to reach 4/162 on day one before declaring at 8/180, setting up an outright chance.
Beaconsfield again struggled, slumping to 8/97, before Mitch Tielen (8 not out off 78 balls) and Mitchell Kidd (5 not out off 68 balls) showed great resolve to deny the outright, with Berwick winning on first innings.
