By STEVE BROWN
IN the game of the round between ladders-leader The Basin and second-placed Eildon Park, former Casey-South Melbourne skipper Jake Best propelled The Basin into a commanding position on day one of Reeves Shield action with a magnificent century at Batterham Reserve.
The Bears would have taken 7/323 at the start of the day as Best’s knock of 128 provided the backbone of what should be a winning total. It was a fine team effort by the home side with contributions from Scott Vozzo (43), Ron Heskes (57) and Wayne Koster (33). Kyle Snyman toiled hard for the Panthers for a return of 3/54.
Luke Scanlan fell agonisingly short of a ton as the Knoxfield Knights recorded a solid 208 against Johnson Park in the annual Mark Paffett Shield.
Scanlan was dismissed for 96 as his opponent Martin Weightman bagged 5/50 in two stand-out performances for the day.
It will take all hands on deck by the Sharks with the bat to retain the trophy.
Upwey Tecoma recovered from the loss of three early wickets against Monbulk as 20-year-old Steve Moore blasted his first century in Reeves Shield.
The Tigers ended the days play at 6/255 with the former Lysterfield skipper scoring 101 and ably supported by Jake Evans 52.
Aaron Powell had the job of bowling uphill at Monbulk for most of the day to take 3/66.
Belgrave at home to Ferntree Gully batted the day for 201 as Simon Hill (66) and John Levell (36) dug in against paceman Jarrod Bradley (5/48).
Blues’ spinning all-rounder Josh Henry continued his good season with 4/41 as the Gully will be pushing to open their account next week.
In the final match at Kings Park, Upper Ferntree Gully are no wicket for 13 chasing 194 set by the Knox Gardens Falcons.
Reeves Shield
Knoxfield 208 (L. Scanlan 96, Stallworthy 3/48, Weightman 5/50) v Johnson Park, The Basin 7/323 (Best 128, R. Heskes 57, Vozzo 43, Koster 33, Snyman 3/54) v Eildon Park, Belgrave 201 (Hill 66, Levell 36, Bradley 5/48, Henry 4/41) v Ferntree Gully,
Upper Gully 0/13 v Knox Gardens 194 (nsa), Monbulk v Upwey Tecoma 6/255 (Moore 101, Evans 52, Hewitt 52, Powell 3/66).
Decoite Shield
South Belgrave 180 (Baker 69, A. Hart 30, Grenda 3/42, Lovell 3/26) v St John’s Tecoma, Footballers 3/34 v Mt Gate 107 (Fitzgerald 47, Lakshita 6/21), Knox City 263 v Rowville (nsa), Auravale 167 (McDermott 32, Neill 3/40) v Lysterfield 4/17 (McDonald 4/14).
Division 3
Johnson Park v Knoxfield 310 (Perry 112, Grant 48, Sando 57, Wright 4/22), Eildon Park v The Basin 9/278 (Porch 48, Brown 42, Lee 31), Ferntree Gully 297 (Mastertoun 123, Dennis 40) v Belgrave, Upwey Tecoma v Monbulk 170 (Maher 50, F. Defina 33 not out, Strahan 3/35, Dunning 3/38).
Division 4
Lysterfield 4/117 (Nicolopoulos 60 not out) v Auravale 105 (Glenister 5/24, Ricardo 4/32), Mt Gate 180 v Footballers 3/54, St John’s Tecoma 84 (Burley 5/51, McDermott 5/28) v South Belgrave 8/306 (Ray 70, Maddox 68, Williams 38, McDermott 34, Barcham 3/71).
Division 5
South Belgrave 204 (Jelinak 48, Dunkley 35, Lawson 53, Pitman 6/29) v The Basin
Ferntree Gully 6/299 (Cole 122 not out, Salan 73, Royer 3/51) v Knoxfield.
Division 6
Footballers 8/127 v Ferntree Gully 75, Upwey Tecoma 4/179 (Spence 78, Lucas 47not out) v Rowville 2/122 (Ralston 55 not out, Blackman 34), Johnson Park 140 v Eildon Park 6/110, Mt Gate 7/101 (Wheeler 33) v Lysterfield 5/139 (Grimston 59).
Division 7
St John’s Tecoma 5/148 (Adams 52, Wallace 36) v Knoxfield 5/132 (Basuari 50, Gregg 42 not out, Wallace 3/14), Johnson Park 1/156 (Silva 50 not out, Rose 76) v Lysterfield 5/99 (Walker 39), Lysterfield 6/127 (Hunt 36, Sonsie 31) v Knox Gardens 1/131 (Stuckey 50, Bakker 41 not out), Monbulk 2/138 (Hulm 48, C.Fraser 33 not out) v The Basin 6/102, Upper Gully 4/125 (Goodger 83, Withers 4/35) v Upwey Tecoma 5/74 (Strange 4/12).
B1
Johnson Park 238 (Gilby 51 not out, Greentree 53 not out, Stephenson 48 not out) v St John’s Tecoma 6/235 (Perkins 51 not out, Elder 51, Oliver 50).
B2
Monbulk 2/207 (Tibbals 51 not out, Heard 51 not out, Badgery 50 not out) d Bayswater 9/143 (Brown 44 not out), Rowville 3/89 (O’Sullivan 39) d Lysterfield 86 (O’Sullivan 3/29), Waverley Wanders 7/263 (Webster 30, Stephen 41, Ennor 50 not out, Pullenayegam 51 not out) d Ferntree Gully 3/154 (Lynch 32 not out, Powney 37 Dunderdale 37 not out).
UNDER 17
Southern Tigers 4/102 (L. Hunt 39, B. Hunt 3/13) v Lysterfield 5/98 (H. Carter 44, B. Hunt 30 not out).
UNDER 13
Upwey Gold 2/122 (Jansen 30 not out, Sheehan 33 not out, Dunning 12 not out) v Monbulk 2/52 (Grimes 22 not out).
UNDER 12
The Basin 2/109 (D’Alano 20 not out, Healy 16 not out, Evans 16 not out) v Griffins Orange 2/81 (Wieclaw 23 not out, R. Harrison 11 not out, B. Harrison 18).
