By Gavin Staindl
UPSETS and last minute comebacks were all part of the weekend that led to two down-and-out teams squeezing into the finals of the Turf One Dandenong and District Cricket Association.
In the last weekend of the regular season, the grand finalists from last year – Springvale South and Parkfield, were both knocked out of finals by Buckley Ridges and Doveton who secured their positions on the back of dramatic outright wins.
Meanwhile, Lyndale has pipped HSD for the final spot of Turf Two after their win over Maranatha.
Turf One
@BT Sub Sport News:Doveton d Mordialloc
Doveton has leap-frogged three positions and snuck into the top four for the first time this season after beating Mordialloc outright at Ben Kavanagh Reserve.
The Doves can credit their second successive finals appearance to fast bowler Ryan Hendy who took eight wickets in Mordialloc’s second innings to give Doveton the win with five overs remaining.
Responding to Doveton’s 276, Mordialloc made 152 in the first innings and were bowled out for 84 in the second innings after being 0/57 at one stage.
Resuming in the first innings at 3/52, Mordialloc only needed to bat out the day to avoid losing outright and restrain Doveton’s push for finals, but Ryan Hendy (6/58) managed to finish off the home side’s first innings with 40 overs still to bowl.
As news filtered through 10 overs into the second innings that Springvale South had won and that Doveton would need to win outright, the sentiment of the Doveton fielders dropped.
“The boys were disappointed,” Doveton president Steve Hendy said. “We thought we had done enough”.
After 20 overs Mordialloc were 1/66 and it appeared as if “it was going to fizz down to percentage”.
However, Hendy (8/25) again came to the rescue by clean bowling the two openers and then sparking the comeback that saw Doveton take 10 wickets for 27 runs and record an outright win with five overs remaining.
Doveton will now play Berwick at Arch Brown Reserve in the first semi-final.
@BT Sub Sport News:Hallam Kalora Park d Keysborough
Hallam Kalora Park is eyeing a semi-final against Doveton after easily accounting for Keysborough at Hallam rec reserve on the weekend.
Hallam-Kalora Park’s Cory Booth hit 73 as the home team passed Keysborough’s first innings total of 173 with 20 overs and six wickets to spare.
The 8-3 Hallam-Kalora Park side will now play Doveton in the second semi-final at Hallam Rec Reserve.
@BT Sub Sport News:Berwick d St Mary’s
Not even a century by St Mary’s opener Brendan Rydquist was enough to get his team past Berwick’s first innings total at Arch Brown Reserve.
Rydquist (100) and Troy Cashman (61) both put on high scores but their team’s total of 241 fell well short of Berwick’s 7/359.
Ashley Henry took 6/82 and was the best of the Berwick bowlers.
@BT Sub Sport News:North Dandenong d Narre Warren
North Dandenong’s win against Narre Warren was small consolation for what was a disappointing last half to the season. North Dandenong beat the Magpies by 118 runs at Lois Twohig Reserve but the win was only the second for North Dandenong since the competition resumed after Christmas – five rounds ago.
Narre Warren’s Ryan Christie continued his good end-of-season form by making 51, but it was not enough as his team were bowled out for 216.
Turf Two
@BT Sub Sport News:Dandenong West d HSD
HSD has missed out on the chance to qualify for finals after it finished 109 runs behind league-leaders Dandenong West at Greaves Reserve.
Needing a win to retain fourth position in the finals, HSD never looked like chasing Dandenong West’s total of 372 as HSD opener Matt Downe was caught for a duck in the first over.
Six HSD batters all made starts of more than 20 but no-one was able to make it past 40. The inability of the HSD batters to find someone who could bat through the overs proved to be the problem for the home side as they fell all out for 223.
@BT Sub Sport News:Lyndale d Maranatha Methodist
Maranatha has avoided relegation but in losing by five wickets they have promoted a jubilant Lyndale into the Turf Two finals.
Defending a weak 98 from the previous week at Barry Powell Reserve, Maranatha had Lyndale at 4/43 at stumps with their opponents needing a win to reach the finals.
However, a strong 65 by Jamie Brohier moved Lyndale into a winning position and in doing so has moved his side into finals.
@BT Sub Sport News:Fountain Gate d Berwick
Berwick has been relegated following a century by Fountain Gate middle-order batter Stephen Svaganovic at Max Pawsey Reserve.
Svanganovic (133) paired with Steven Russell (55 not out) to remove any hope Berwick had of avoiding relegation.
After making 157 the week before, the Bears had their opponents at 4/57 but the 11-man bowling attack could not restrict Fountain Gate as they rolled onto 315.
@BT Sub Sport News:Buckley Ridges d Cranbourne
Buckley Ridges has advanced to second position on the Turf Two ladder after beating Cranbourne at Park Oval and subsequently passing Cranbourne on the ladder.
Playing for second position and the home final at Park Oval, Cranbourne fell 29 runs short of the Ridges’ score of 210. Half-centuries by Jason Hameeteman and Daniel Diwell were not enough as the pair found themselves fighting alone as team-mates departed around them.
@BT Sub Sport News:Sourthern Pirates d Hampton Park
Sourthern Pirates finished off the year with a comfortable 90-run win over Hampton Park at Wachter Reserve. Resuming at 4/73 chasing 228, Hampton Park was quickly bowled out for 138. Tight bowling by Stuart Dalton (4/38) and Leigh Taylor (3/10) finished off the dead-rubber.
