By Gavin Staindl
A WEEK of upsets and nail-biters has prised the race for the Dandenong and District Cricket Association Turf One finals wide open.
In recent years, DDCA followers had a fair idea who would play finals by the halfway stage of the season, but if Saturday’s matches taught us anything, no side is a certainty. After going through the first four rounds winless, Hallam-Kalora Park has rattled off back-to-back wins including Saturday’s upset over Parkfield.
In what coach Rob Walton described as the clubs best win “in a long, long time”, Hallam rallied from a crippling collapse to steal a two-wicket win at Parkfield Reserve.
At 4/46, Hallam looked a long-shot to chase down Parkfield’s 227 but a patient, yet explosive innings by Johan Vorster guided Hallam to the win with four balls remaining.
With cool heads, Vorster (114 not out) and Nicolas Cox (42) rotated the strike before letting loose late in the day to blast their way to a 115-run partnership that set up the win.
“It was a sensational win,” Walton said.
“We started pretty scratchy but with wickets in the shed we never lost faith in where we were at.”
@BT Sub Sport News:BERWICK v MORDIALLOC
The difference between winning and losing was a non-existent third slip as Mordialloc held on for a one-wicket win at Arch Brown Reserve.
Needing to take one more wicket, the Berwick fielders could only stand in disbelief as Mordialloc’s Ninranjan Kumar brought up the winning boundary by unintentionally edging a lofted ball through the third slip region. Earlier, Andrew Perrin (4/69) and Jim Davies (3/23) were significant in defending Berwick’s day-one total of 172.
The loss removes Berwick from top spot on the Turf One ladder and replaces them with cross-town rivals Doveton.
@BT Sub Sport News:KEYSBOROUGH v DOVETON
Doveton has leaped to the top of the Turf One ladder with a crushing outright win over Keysborough at Keysborough Reserve.
Resuming at 2/11, Keysborough put up little resistance as it was bowled out for 83 with Corrie Wilson (7/46) the pick of the bowlers. With an outright win squarely in the mind of the Doveton top order, Shane White (38) and Matt Hutchinson (27 not out) ensured the required 83 runs was reached within 25 overs.
@BT Sub Sport News:HSD v NORTH DANDENONG
HSD has been beaten outright after being bowled for 142 in its second dig against North Dandenong at Reedy Reserve.
After it was dismissed for 48 last week, HSD failed to restrain North Dandenong who declared for 5/200 – a lead of 152 runs.
Needing to either bat out the day or score and extra 11 runs, HSD fell agonisingly short on both accounts.
@BT Sub Sport News:DANDENONG WEST v NARRE WARREN
In another upset, Dandenong West upstaged Narre Warren by one wicket in an enthralling chase at Greaves Reserve.
Chasing 124, Dandenong West stumbled to 9/92 before number eight batter Adam Mason asserted himself. Mason scored an unbeaten 57 but most importantly held up a 57-run last-wicket partnership with tailender Nathan Goodes (six) to secure the unlikely win.
@BT Sub Sport News:TURF TWO
FOUNTAIN GATE v COOMOORA
Fountain Gate has held on to record a thrilling one-wicket win against Coomoora at Coomoora Reserve.
Down to its last wicket and still needing 35 runs for victory, Coomoora’s Lance Baptist (28 not out) and Chris Konings (0) batted for nearly an hour but fell four runs short of Fountain Gate’s 234 when Konings was caught by Cory Wilson off Bryan Guthrie (2/46).
Fountain Gate’s David Lucas (3/34) and Dale Jose (3/46) did the damage with the ball.
@BT Sub Sport News:NARRE SOUTH v SILVERTON
Narre South battled through a middle order collapse to ensure a two-wicket win over Silverton at Strathaird Reserve.
Only three wickets down needing 20 runs to win Narre South was doing it easy before losing four wickets without adding a run.
But a composed effort by Narre’s lower order, led by Aidan Nelson (16), helped Narre avoid disaster.
@BT Sub Sport News:CRANBOURNE v ST MARY’S
Cranbourne took care of St. Mary’s with a 69-run win in Saturday’s one-dayer at Casey Fields. After rain last week reduced the match to a 40-over game, Cranbourne set the standard early with Rob Cleland (45) leading the Eagles to 8/208.
Cranbourne’s latest recruit, strike bowler Danny Evans, showed he will play an integral part in Cranbourne’s push to Turf One after taking 2/19 from eight overs and leading the charge in restricting St Mary’s to 7/139.
@BT Sub Sport News:NARRE NORTH v LYNDALE
In the other one-dayer, Narre North fell 71-runs short of Lyndale at Narre North Reserve. Narre North struggled to take wickets as Lyndale went for the slog late in the game to finish at 5/188.
In response, Narre’s Michael Robson (22) was left relatively unsupported as Narre slumped to 9/117.
