By ROY WARD
THE DDCA Turf 1 season is going to plan for Buckley Ridges and new captain-coach Marc Calkin believes his side’s success will continue as long as it keeps to its blueprint.
The Ridges defended their score of 8-258 against Berwick on Saturday, bowling the Bears out for 186 thanks to good bowling from Jonny Lash (5-48) and Matthew Goodwright (2-43).
CLICK HERE for our picture gallery of the big game.
Calkin said the Ridges would continue to be successful as long as they stayed disciplined.
“We have put in a lot of work since we lost our first game to Coomoora,” he said. “We have been working pretty hard at sticking to our game plan and it’s paying off.”
Calkin said the key to the win over Berwick was Ben Watson’s late-inning score of 71 not out on the first day.
“Watson got 71 at the end when we were looking at making 210 and ended up with 258,” he said. “That got the boys up a bit and during last week we had a win in the DDCA Twenty20 competition which also put the wind up the boys’ tails heading into the second day.”
The Ridges controlled proceedings for much of the second day with the Bears having just 70 or so runs on the board at lunch before West Indian import Ryan Hercules looked to take the game up to the Ridges.
But his innings was cut short by Lash, who had him caught by Greg Todd. “We came out after lunch and knew we had to get the big guy [Hercules] out,” Calkin said. “He was quite dangerous on the small ground with the pitch not offering us much.”
Calkin commended Lash and other bowlers. “On that pitch our spinners bowled very well and bowlers like Lash and Jeremy Kuru were good; to have those guys there to call on is pretty awesome.”
The win leaves the Ridges in third place, with Dandenong West holding top spot after a win over North Dandenong on Saturday.
The Bulls had to chase down North Dandenong’s 113 from the first day and did so with ease, posting 4-240. Anthony Roberts fell just short of a century on 98 and Justin Stanton made 66.
Heinz Southern Districts (191) chased down Doveton’s 158, with captain Trevor Davies (59) and Michael Davies (56) leading the way. Narre Warren scored a four-wicket win over Coomoora with Ateeq Javid making 120 not out.
Springvale South fell short against Mordialloc after being bowled out for 150 chasing the home side’s 194.
For all the latest breaking news, stay with this website. Also, follow the Weekly at facebook.com/dandenongjournal or on Twitter @DandenongJournal.
