By JARROD POTTER
DDCA Turf 1 – round 9 (day one)
T’WAS a mixed homecoming for Steve Spoljaric as he led Cranbourne away from perilous danger and towards victory in a matter of overs.
PARKFIELD v CRANBOURNE
Returning back to the club he captained to a flag less than 12 months ago, Cranbourne (99 and 0/42) skipper Steve Spoljaric made the trek back to Dunblane Reserve to take on his beloved Parkfield (47).
Dunblane Reserve proved the backdrop for a wicket-taking onslaught as neither side could stick at the crease.
Jordan Cleland (33) gutsily held on as the scalps fell around him before he finally succumbed as Nilochana Perera (5/28) and Shane Bell (3/34) did the heavy lifting.
There wasn’t much to smile about for Cranbourne by the end of its 40-over knock, failing to crack the ton and looking down the barrel of another defeat.
Luckily for the Eagles, the script still had more surprises to reveal.
Spoljaric (6/26) and Cam Kelly (4/18) would bowl unchanged to run absolute riot with the ball against Parkfield – dismissing the home side for spare change.
Matt Aslett (20) was the best of a woeful batting card as it only took 27 overs for Spoljaric and Kelly to dissect the Bears.
From battling to stay afloat to 52 runs ahead on the first innings, Cranbourne’s second go fared a lot better as Cleland (22no) and Brayden Roscoe (14no) stuck at it to set up an interesting second day on Saturday.
HALLAM KALORA PARK v COOMOORA
Coomoora continued letting sides off the hook as Hallam Kalora Park (6/265) wriggled from the net after the Booths put the boot in.
The Kangaroos hopped through the Hawks’ top order as Saliya Saman (1/21) and Joseph Hawke (1/57) kept the early going difficult for the home side.
It would take Cory Booth (125) and Ben Hilliard (32) to begin the turnaround – as the duo notched 59 for the fourth wicket before Hilliard holed out.
Enter Leigh Booth (70) – who relished the ball coming onto the bat and making light work of the opposition’s best.
The two Booths notched a 151-run partnership – the second 150-or-more stand for the Hawks in consecutive rounds – and demoralised the Kangaroos run by run.
Cory Booth raised the bat on his first significant score this season – his eighth DDCA century in a whopping career.
The duo would come unstuck chasing the last morsels to add to the tally but walked off to thunderous applause after the complete rescue.
HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS v BERWICK A middle-order revival kept Berwick (156) alive against a resurgent Heinz Southern Districts (2/54).
The Bears hibernated early as the visitors slumped to 5/32 on the back of a scintillating spell from Chad Van Estrop (4/26).
Van Estrop decided to see off the first four Berwick batsmen for a pittance as Brad James (3), Jarrod Goodes (4), Ryan Williamson (6) and Bathiya Perera (3) barely struggled the scorers.
The hard work was left to the Brit Dan Brown (76) who batted manfully against the Cobras to keep Berwick hopes alive.
Brown combined with Ryan Crawford (30) for a dignity-saving 75-run stand to push the Bears out of complete disarray towards a slender total.
Crawford’s demise started the next collapse as Michael Davies (2/18), Matt Downe (2/37) and Paul Stockdale (2/70) started the march towards the end of the Berwick batting order.
Cheshire’s Brown only succumbed as he upped the tempo – striking sixes and boundaries at will – but he ran out of team mates and had to keep the runs flowing before getting skittled by Downe after a sensational half-century – his first of his inaugural DDCA Turf 1 season.
Downe (36) and Glenn Hamilton (18) cashed in early in the dying light before holing out to Goodes (1/15) and Adam Watson (1/0) respectively, leaving the nightwatchman Van Estrop (0no) the only unbeaten Cobra at stumps.
