Narre Warren captain-coach Wendell Perumal and fellow opener John Simpson made a great start for their club, but it was not enough to get the Magpies over the line against Berwick at Sweeney Reserve on Saturday.By Marc McGowan and Paul Pickering
THE second half of the 2007-08 Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) is off and running with round seven results showing little has changed over the Christmas break.
Berwick confirmed its top-two spot in Turf One with another brilliant batting display from Alex Roberts and Gavan Wills earning it victory over Narre Warren.
Cranbourne also won, but Doveton was on the wrong side of the ledger.
In Turf Two, the big guns – HSD and Hallam-Kalora Park – won again, but lowly sides Hampton Park, Fountain Gate and Maranatha Methodist continued their losing trends.
@BT Sub Sport News:TURF ONE
Cranbourne v Keysborough
Cranbourne pocketed its second win of the year by rolling Keysborough by three wickets at Casey Fields on Saturday.
Keysborough started well enough to move to 3/131 before Steven Miller (3/29) began to have an influence and some quality fielding that resulted in four run outs.
Ultimately, Shiran Rajakaruna’s 39-run dig was Keysborough’s best in its modest 184.
The chase was anything but easy, however, with the Eagles slumping to 3/47.
But opener Brad Angus (68 not out) combined with wicketkeeper Steven Hall (39) for a 58-run partnership to get the innings on track.
Hall was dismissed with the score on 105, but despite no further batsman having a great impact, Angus carried his bat to guide his team to victory.
Berwick v Narre Warren
Another vintage Alex Roberts performance helped Berwick flog Narre Warren by eight wickets at Sweeney Reserve on the weekend.
After his unbeaten 93-run knock at the top of the order, Roberts’ season tally rollicked onto 475 and it is now a matter of when – not if – he breaks the DDCA’s Turf One single season runs record of 647.
The Magpies batted first and received great service from captain-coach Wendell Perumal (89) and John Simpson (30) as they stormed to 1/151.
But a batting collapse saw the team restricted to 6/180 before Chris Jarrett and Dave Wheeler dragged Narre Warren to 6/218 at the end of its 40 overs.
The total was never likely to be enough against the Bears, and batting dynamos Roberts and Gavan Wills (83) made sure of that.
While Roberts attracts all the accolades, Wills is in the midst of another masterful season, averaging 78.7 to have 236 runs in the bank.
The result gives second-placed Berwick a six-point buffer over the third-ranked Magpies.
Parkfield v Doveton
Parkfield has vaulted into fifth spot on the ladder after cruising past Doveton’s total of 8/145 at Parkfield Reserve on Saturday.
The win was set up by Bears seamer Daniel Ferguson, who took 4/15 from his eight overs to continue a rich vein of form that culminated in a hat-trick in his last outing of 2007.
Opener Brad Downe (41) handled the conditions best for the Doves, but most of his team-mates struggled as Doveton posted 8/145 from its allotted 40 overs.
The Bears batsmen made a better fist of things on their home wicket, with in-form opener Brad Houghton (50 not out) and skipper Dale Harris (51) methodically chasing down their target with seven wickets still in the hutch.
Parkfield is now just three points shy of the top four, while Doveton is languishing at the bottom of the table.
@BT Sub Sport News:TURF TWO
Springvale South d Fountain Gate
Fountain Gate still only has one win for the season after its 55-run loss to Springvale South at Max Pawsey Reserve on the weekend.
The Bloods batted first and made an impressive start, careering to 75 before Tim Ford (22) became the game’s first victim.
It was a struggle from then on as Fountain Gate’s Cory Wilson (4/39) ran through Springvale South’s line-up.
When Stuart Browning (19) was out, the Bloods’ innings came to a close at 165.
Any chance of victory number two quickly evaporated for Fountain Gate as it fell to 3/26 and then 6/76.
Wilson (31) was again a strong contributor, but there was little else as Fountain Gate meekly surrendered for 110.
Springvale South all-rounder David Grainge claimed 3/10 after scoring a match-high 32 with the willow.
HSD d Berwick
The Christmas break had no effect on the HSD juggernaut as it belted Berwick by eight wickets at Arch Brown Reserve on Saturday.
Brad James (49) and Rob Chilver (42) paced the Bears’ 6/169, but many more runs were required to trouble the ladder leader, and that became painfully obvious once HSD took to the crease.
In-form openers Matt Downe (60 not out) and the destructive Scott Brandon (48) laid the foundation before Michael Davies (38 not out) joined the former to finish the job with nine overs to spare.
Adam Semmens (5) was the only HSD batsman to fail after Downe and Brandon put on 72 for the first wicket.
The usually economical Mark Dinnie took the most stick – being clobbered for 25 runs off his two overs – but he was far from the only Berwick bowler to feel the wrath of its unbeaten opposition.
Mordialloc d Hampton Park
Hampton Park remains in the bottom two after a demoralising 44-run thrashing at the hands of Mordialloc at Ben Kavanagh Reserve on the weekend.
The Bloodhounds sit in the top four, so it was always going to be tough going for the Redbacks, but they offered little resistance.
Mordialloc amassed 9/181, with captain Travis Campbell top scoring with 35.
Hampton Park’s Matthew Bartlett was the best with the leather, grabbing 3/41.
But from the time Redback openers Travis Lacey and Rhys Fegan departed for single figure efforts, Hampton Park was behind the count.
Several players made starts, with Stephen Boltong managing 31, but the final four batsmen contributed just seven runs as the Redbacks were dismissed for 137.
Hallam-Kalora Park d Maranatha Methodist
Hallam-Kalora Park smacked Maranatha Methodist by 124 runs at Strathaird Reserve on Saturday.
The match was not as routine as the final result suggested, however, as Hallam-Kalora Park slumped to a surprisingly dire 6/108 in its innings.
But newcomer James Tincknell (69) thumped the visitors back into a good position with the help of Lee Brown’s cameo 21 to produce a 40-over total of 8/208.
Maranatha Methodist was embarrassing in reply, losing five batsmen for ducks and another two combined for just seven runs as it was bowled out for 84.
Gary Plunkett (26) and Darryl Turner (19) provided the only resistance as Sediq Shiryar led the bowling charge again with 4/14.
