By Stuart Teather
HERE come the finals.
The regular Dandenong District Cricket Association season is over and the finals match-ups have been locked in, with some shock results along the way.
Hallam-Kalora Park blew its chance at playing in the post-season after going down to Buckley Ridges on Saturday.
This weekend, Turf One action will see the undefeated minor premier Springvale South take on North Dandenong at Alex Nelson Reserve and second-placed Doveton face Parkfield at Robinson Reserve.
In Turf Two, Southern Pirates snuck into the four at the expense of Fountain Gate and will face Dandenong West at Greaves Reserve, while topside HSD plays Mordialloc at Reedy Reserve.
Turf One
@BT Sub Sport News:Hallam-Kalora Park v Buckley Ridges
Hallam-Kalora Park’s season is over after blowing its chance to play finals, going down to Buckley Ridges at Park Oval.
The home side posted a huge 303 on day one and looked set to claim the win and play finals in its first season back up in Turf One competition, but Buckley Ridges had other ideas.
The visitors paced their innings perfectly, passing the required total in the 81st over on the back of some big knocks from Ruwan Jayadeva (78), Shane D’Rozario (52) and Paul Rudd (48).
It is a disappointing result for Hallam-Kalora Park that dropped its last two games to fall out of finals contention after winning four in a row mid-season.
@BT Sub Sport News:Narre Warren v North Dandenong
North Dandenong scraped into the finals with a comfortable win over Narre Warren at Sweeney Reserve.
While the side was always on top of its clash with Narre, it took a surprise loss to Hallam-Kalora Park for the team to sneak into the top four.
Chasing 180, North Dandenong lost two early wickets, but was never threatened after that and Scott Neeson (74 not-out) anchored the innings from number-three.
He combined with Carman Mapatuna (58) and then Shane Leonard (36 not-out) to see the out the run-chase.
Of the bowlers, Dale Christie was the standout, claiming 2/39 off 14 overs.
@BT Sub Sport News:Doveton v Berwick
Doveton sealed the deal on Berwick’s horror season with a convincing win at Robinson Reserve propelling the Doves into second spot on the ladder and giving them a home final this weekend.
Reigning premier Berwick was widely predicted to be fighting it out at the top of the ladder this season, but never lived up to expectations and finished in eighth place with three wins. On Saturday Berwick managed just 88 runs off 37 overs, with only two batsmen making double figures.
Doveton’s bowlers were on song and Brad Downe (3/3 off eight) proved particularly unplayable, while Corrie Wilson (3/37 off 10) and Nathan Wilson (2/9 off 5.3) also did some damage.
With first-innings points secured the Doves went back in and Ryan Hendy hit a quick-fire 61 as his team reached 2/111.
@BT Sub Sport News:Keysborough v Cranbourne
Keysborough claimed its first win of the season against Cranbourne on Saturday, comfortably defending its day-one score of 224 at Keysborough Reserve.
The home side’s bowling attack was on target on day two, largely thanks to a monster performance from Andrew Chapman, who will no doubt be feeling the strain after rolling the arm over for 29.5 overs on Saturday, for an impressive return of 6/55.
Paul McDonald was not far behind with figures of 4/49 off 18 overs, helping see Cranbourne all out for 145 off 60.5 overs.
For Cranbourne, Chris George was the standout in his first game in Turf One this year, scoring 58 from number-three.
George has flown through the ranks at Cranbourne this season, beginning in B-grade and working his way through the A-grade, Turf Four and Turf Three sides before debuting in the First XI against Keysborough.
Turf Two
@BT Sub Sport News:HSD v Fountain Gate
Fountain Gate will not play finals after a disappointing effort with the bat against HSD, combined with some unfortunate results from other games in the division that helped to plummet the side to fifth place on the ladder.
Chasing 224 against top side HSD, Fountain Gate resumed the day on 2/40.
HSD’s bowlers struck early on day two, removing Jarryd Murrian for 23 and then collected danger man Bruce Mullen for one.
With his team on the ropes, Fountain Gate’s Matthew Maxwell (54) put in a good performance, but could not find a partner and the side collapsed all out for 138.
Unfortunately for Fountain Gate, fifth-placed Southern Pirates pulled off a remarkable outright victory, allowing them to leapfrog the Gates into the finals.
@BT Sub Sport News:Hampton Park v Maranatha Methodist
Maranatha Methodist ended its season with an away win against Hampton Park on Saturday.
Played at Booth Reserve, Hampton Park set about chasing down Maranatha’s day-one total of 241, but struggled from the outset. Aaron Moldrich and Paul Goodchild ripped through the top order, claiming the first six wickets between them for just 31 runs.
Stephen Boltong (57) put up a fight from number-seven, but the damage was done and Hampton Park fell all out for 140.
Moldrich (4/27 off 15) and Goodchild (3/25 off 21.2) were the standout bowlers, while Mark Nelson chimed in with 1/19 off 12.
