Berwick all-rounder Alex Roberts was out cheaply with the bat, but picked up his first wickets of the year against St Mary’s at Arch Brown Reserve on Sunday. 13933 Picture: Meagan Rogers.By Helena Adeloju
THERE were runs aplenty in Turf One, with Hallam-Kalora Park, Doveton and Buckley Ridges, in particular, feasting on their respective opposition attacks.
Berwick’s bowlers bucked the trend, dismissing lowly St Mary’s for 178.
HSD was the only Turf Two side to top 200 runs on a bowler-dominated weekend.
Hampton Park’s Jonathan Rudge returned incredible figures of 9/32 against Fountain Gate.
TURF ONE
Doveton v Narre Warren
Everything went right for Doveton from winning the toss and going into bat.
Skipper Brad Downe (71) led out strongly, building a healthy opening partnership with Ryan Pearson (57).
Matthew Hutchinson (30) held up the middle order to help the Doves post a total of 298.
Narre Warren’s Dwayne Scott (3/46) led the bowlers’ charge, posting his best figures of the season.
Dale Christie (2/40), David Wheeler (2/67) and John Simpson (2/85) made their presence felt with the ball, denying Doveton a larger total.
Hallam-Kalora Park v Keysborough
Up against its own lacklustre form and sixth-placed Hallam-Kalora Park, Keysborough will have to dig deep this week to have any hope of resurrecting its season.
A confident Hallam-Kalora Park won the toss and came out swinging after electing to bat.
Leading from the front and looking unstoppable on the way to a hat-trick of centuries, opener Leigh Booth (111) had Hallam-Kalora Park off to a dream start.
Skipper Cory Booth (68) got in on the act shortly after, with both players putting runs on the board in a valuable partnership.
Steve Chapman (38) and Lovejeet Randhawa (26) took the cue from the front-end, picking up where they left off and helping Hallam to a strong total of 315.
Keysborough all-rounder Shiran Rajakaruna (4/71) was handy with the ball and Paul McDonald followed up from his success against Berwick with 3/76.
Cranbourne v Coomoora
With both teams yet to lock-in points on the ladder after two rounds, Cranbourne and Coomoora are chasing their first win of the season.
The coin fell Coomoora’s way with a good batting pitch the prize.
Opener Andrew King (67) took full advantage of his side’s luck to pile on the runs early, followed soon after by equally run-hungry all-rounder Robert Johnston (69).
Matthew Wenke (26) and Mervan Fernando (20) did their best to hold up the middle order before the tail struggled to keep it together, scoring just 17 runs between the last five batters.
With three run-outs, Cranbourne’s bowlers were only left with seven Coomoora batters to dispose of.
Kyle Brooke came away with an impressive 4/36 and Shane Murdoch doubled his season’s wicket tally with 2/58.
St Mary’s v Berwick
St Mary’s won the toss and elected to bat, but it was mostly downhill from there with all 10 men out for a lean total of 178.
Top-scoring middle-order batsman Andrew Haining (27) made an impression, but the Berwick bowling line-up managed to limit all St Mary’s most experienced batsmen to minimal scores.
Alex Roberts headed Berwick’s six-man line up, breaking his two-match drought with an impressive 4/41, backed up by Ash Henry (2/38), who returned after missing round two and Simon Cornell (2/39).
TURF TWO
Fountain Gate v Hampton Park
Fountain Gate was sent to the crease to kick off the first innings, but it wasn’t pretty with three batters out for a duck and another three posting single-figure scores.
Top-scorer Nick Scanlon produced an unrivalled 40, but Fountain Gate was done and dusted at 99.
Gun Hampton Park bowler Jonathan Rudge (9/32) single-handedly demolished Fountain Gate’s line-up before Hampton Park took to the crease and was bowled out for 62, courtesy of the combined efforts of David Lucas (3/4), Sanjeeva Udumalagala (3/13) and Scanlon (3/25).
The teams are set to fight it out in the second innings.
Maranatha Methodist v St Brigid’s-St Louis
The toss fell St Brigid’s-St Louis’ way and Maranatha Methodist found itself at the crease. The top-order batsmen fell in quick succession and it was left to the middle order and tail end to pick up the pieces.
Jeff Thom (49) topped the Saints’ runs sheet, helping the team to a respectable total of 132.
St Brigid’s-St Louis’ bowling line-up did well to limit the score-making, with Grant Ansalde (3/25), Dilup Anthukovalage (2/9), David Baxter (2/16) Mitch Elms (2/32) all posting season-best figures.
Maranatha Methodist’s bowlers will have to stage a comeback equal to their batters if they are to stop the Saints in their tracks.
Maranatha Methodist faces a difficult task this weekend, with the Saints’ top run-getter Mark Jamieson’s unbeaten on 57 and the team score at 3/90.
Berwick v HSD
With a good batting wicket for the taking, HSD started shakily, losing its opener for a duck, but rebuilt to post a solid total of 310.
Asela Javasinghe came up with the goods after the openers crumbled, posting an unbeaten 99.
Wicketkeeper Robert Davies (35 not-out) made his way to a half-century and Trevor Davies (28) also made a valuable contribution.
Berwick’s Adam Watson (5/50) led the wicket takers, followed by Cameron Henry (4/61).
Berwick took to the crease in much the same way as HSD began, losing one opener for a duck and the other shortly after.
With the progress score at 2/19 and 62 overs to come, Berwick’s middle-order batters are set for a challenge.
