CRANBOURNE’S C-grade side’s season ended by an agonising 13 runs at the weekend when it went down in the Saturday-Sunday semi-final to Hallam.
A batting crumble on the Sunday, when Cranbourne lost a quick five wickets proved costly.
Losing the toss and having to bowl, Cranbourne started well with Stuart Mills striking early three times, to reduce Hallam to 3/40.
Wickets came regularly until Hallam reached 8/139, where the ninth and tenth-wickets partnership put on 84 to add respectability to its score.
Stars were Stuart Mills, who came back on and wrapped the inning up with the second new ball to finish with 5/43 off 24 overs, while Martin Kelly took two wickets in support.
Another highlight was Chris Lamb’s keeping that resulted in three stumpings.
Having to face eight overs Cranbourne got to 1/14 when play was stopped.
On Sunday Cranbourne proceeded to put on 108 runs for the second wicket before Chris Lamb was out for a boundary-laden 68.
Shortly after Tony Ciantar fell for a stoic 40.
After that came a ‘Cranny crumble’ with Cranbourne losing 6/15 after being 1/120, before Richard Young (20) and Adam Hanger (34) steadied the ship to take the score to 8/180.
A gallant last-innings partnership between skipper Mark Notaro and Martin Kelly saw Cranbourne fall 13 runs short.
Scores: Cranbourne 210 lost to Hallam 223.
@BT Sub Sport News:E GRADE
Cranbourne will play in the grand final at Casey Fields this weekend after a good semi-final win against Endeavour Hills on Saturday and Sunday.
Batting first, Cranbourne got off to a good start, thanks to opener Michael Randall who got 57 runs and continued his own good form with the bat.
He had a good third-wicket stand of 64 runs with junior Matthew McKean, who ended up with 42 of his own.
Others to bat well were captain Glen Dickinson who continued his own late-season form surge with a mature 46.
At 9/219 Endeavour Hills probably expected to wrap things us quickly, but thanks to Dennis Kimball (39 not out) and Keeran Braham (20), the score was pushed along to 266 off 90 overs.
Bowling on the Sunday, Cranbourne never looked in trouble.
Dennis Kimball bowled from one end all day and took 6/47 off 25 overs.
All year he has been the heart of the attack and stood up when it counted most – in the finals.
Matthew McKean also backed up his batting with figures of 3/30 to clean up the batsmen that Dennis didn’t.
Scores: Cranbourne 266 d Endeavour Hills 114.
@BT Sub Sport News:ONE DAY
Cranbourne has controversially advanced to the grand final after Coomoora was penalised for playing an ineligible player, Corey Wilkinson. Despite winning by 27 runs on Saturday, the DDCA awarded the victory to the Eagles after becoming aware of the situation.
After winning the toss, Coomoora chose to bat and after struggling at 3/31 resurrected its inning, due largely to poor fielding, highlighted by the fact that Cranbourne dropped six catches for the game.
Best bowlers were Wayne Stephens with 3/57 off seven overs and Daniel Baker with 3/60 off 10 overs.
Gav Roscoe’s keeping was also a shining light in an otherwise poor day in the field.
In reply, Cranbourne got off to a reasonable start with the first seven batsmen all getting to at least 20.
At times it looked like they may get the runs required, but in the end time ran out.
Ash Ryan (48) and Chris Taylor (35) were the best of the Cranbourne bats in what was a hard-fought contest.
After heading the competition for most of the year, Cranbourne now has the chance to take out the title.
Scores: Cranbourne 9/222 d Coomoora 249 (Disqualified).
@BT Sub Sport News:UNDER 17 (1)
Bowling first, Cranbourne made life tough for the Berwick opening batsman, only conceding 3/54 off the first 24 overs.
This was thanks to the tight bowling of Jesse Fitzgerald and Ben Hall opening up and the excellent fielding.
Even in the last 20 Cranbourne kept things under control, only allowing five an over when the other side tried to hit out.
The pick of the bowlers were Ben Redgen with 1/23 off eight overs and Dustin Peebles with 2/37 off eight, while bowling at the end.
On the Sunday Cranbourne fell to 2/40 before opener Cameron Kelly and Aaron Morrison paired up and then produced a supreme batting display, sending the ball to all parts of the ground.
Cameron got 61 retired and Aaron 60 retired.
For a team that was sitting ninth with five matches left, Cranbourne hit form at the right time and will play in the grand final this week.
Scores: Cranbourne 2/168 d Berwick 7/162.
@BT Sub Sport News:UNDER 17 (2)
Cranbourne lost the toss against Keysborough in the semi-final and had to bowl first on the small Wachter Reserve.
Opening the attack was Steve Henry, who claimed the first two big-name wickets with only two runs on the board and finishing his overs with 3/20 off eight.
Ashley Murtaugh took 1/23 off eight overs and Keeran Braham finished with 2/26 off five.
At the end Chad Slater (4/15) produced the most memorable seven balls of his career, taking 4/0.
Batting on Sunday nearly every batsman got a start but failed to go on.
Justin Hinkley got 35, Troy Kimball 20, Chris Hale 23 and Ryan Jones came in at the end and almost carried the team over the line with a hard-hitting 32. The loss means Cranbourne’s season is over.
Scores: Cranbourne 186 lost to Keysborough 202.
@BT Sub Sport News:UNDER 15 (1)
Batting first, Cranbourne got off to a great start against Narre Warren North in the semi-final thanks to Daniel Patterson who finished with 34.
At the halfway mark Cranbourne had reached 4/102 and looked set for a large target, thanks mainly to the inspired strokeplay of Adam Hanger, who made 64.
In the second half, a combination of a lack of urgency and good bowling saw Cranbourne restricted to what was probably 30 runs below what it would have liked.
Sameera Wickramasinghe played well for 21 and Cranbourne ended on 181.
Bowling on Sunday, Cranbourne struggled for early wickets and the score was 1/109 off 24 overs.
After the break the team managed to get back in the game thanks to the bowling of Adam Hanger, Nathan Lambden and Justin Poole, who all got 2 wickets, however it was not enough and Cranbourne’s season was over.
Scores: Cranbourne 9/181 lost to Narre Warren North 6/184.
@BT Sub Sport News:UNDER 15 (3)
Batting first, at 3/14 Cranbourne looked in all sorts of trouble against Hallam, but Lucas MacKenzie (16) and Mitch Viney revived the innings with a fine 56-run partnership.
All through the inning Viney showed the form that has seen him dominate the division this season and he ended 71 in a brilliant batting display.
Providing much-needed support was Cameron Middleton who smacked six fours on the way to 33.
Number 11 Michael Dempsey also showed determination with 12 runs and provided a solid partner at the other end.
With the ball, there were not that many standouts with Brad Nicol (0/8), Lucas MacKenzie (1/24) and Aron Elysee (1/20) all bowling their six overs well, but the thing that shone through was the fielding.
Cranbourne effected an amazing seven run-outs contributing to a thrilling win and a berth in the grand final this week.
Scores: Cranbourne 10/195 def Hallam 9/193
@BT Sub Sport News:UNDER 13 (4)
Cranbourne bowled first against Narre Warren North and conceded only 10 extras in its semi-final win.
Best of the bowlers were Harley Miller (1/6), Todd Reynolds (1/13) and Jason Buntine (0/4), all off four overs.
Batting the next day Cranbourne lost an early wicket, but opener Brad Hermans (19) and first drop Jason Buntine (26 retired) took the score to 44 before Hermans went out.
This signalled a collapse and Cranbourne lost 4/8, all due to reckless shots.
However the saviour came in the form of number-eight Alex Dunn, who smashed four fours on the way to retiring in eight overs on 25.
His partner along the way to victory was Todd Reynolds who, while only contributing four to a 45-run stand, showed the patience that the middle order lacked.
Cranbourne will now play in this week’s grand final.
Scores: Cranbourne 6/126 d Narre Warren North 3/124.
