By JARROD POTTER
DDCA Turf 1 – Round 8 (day 1)
THE gauntlet has finally been thrown to Cranbourne as an unlikely contender stepped up to post the biggest score against the Eagles this season.
CRANBOURNE v HALLAM KALORA PARK
THE thorn in Cranbourne’s side was the young Hallam Kalora Park (6/266) opening tandem Ben Hilliard (101) and Jagveer Hayer (96), who managed to finally put the Eagles on the back foot this season.
The duo had the match by the throat as they bludgeoned 197 for the opening wicket – as the openers powered towards their maiden centuries.
Once Hayer fell – agonisingly short of his maiden DDCA century – the advantage was well and truly with the Hawks and the fun could begin. Once Hilliard reached his century.
It’s been quite a while since Hilliard got this close to triple figures, having to trace his history all the way back to under-13s where he was stranded 95 not out against Coomoora. He made sure there would be no missed centuries this week as he smashed through for the ton before finally succumbing.
Cranbourne opener Cam Kelly (3/54) started to churn through the Hawks’ order with Steve Spoljaric (1/57) and Te Ahu Davis (1/73) also grinding through the overs. Cory Booth (27) and Amila Perera (16 not out) had free licence to smash the last few runs into the ledger as the overs started ticking down.
Hallam Kalora Park called it a day and will send Cranbourne in to chase a whopping 267 runs on Saturday – which would be the Hawks’ largest total this season and also become the biggest margin Cranbourne has been set to hunt down.
BERWICK v PARKFIELD
A ROLLER-COASTER ride at Arch Brown Reserve left Berwick (0/13) with the honours on day one as Parkfield threw it away not once, but thrice. The opening initiative failed spectacularly as the top-order crumbled.
Leaving the effort to Nilochana Perera (54) and Travis D’Souza (35), the duo notched 85 together and looked set to turn the tables on the Bears before a pre-tea collapse.
Losing four wickets in quick succession – the Perera/D’Souza partnership was broken by a careless “yes-no” run-out before Brad Baptist (0), Perera and Matt Aslett (0) succumbed. It left the last battle to be fought by the Parkfield tail as Mike Willmott (31 not out) and captain Shane Bell (25) turned a sub-par tally into something fortified.
Jarrod Goodes (4/29) and Dushan Wickramarathna (2/29) ran through the Lions’ share of the visitor’s order, leaving it up to Adam Watson (6 not out) and Brad James (6 not out) to see off the new ball and get to stumps unscathed at 0/13.
Berwick is 0/13 overnight off its 10 overs.
COOMOORA v HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS
REMAINING in the balance, Coomoora (142) can still escape with its inaugural win of the season as Heinz Southern Districts (5/99) lurched towards the first-innings victory.
Joel Robertson (36) showed the needed grit to push the Kangaroos past 100 and towards something marginally respectable as Heinz tandem Paul Stockdale (4/62) and Michael Davies (3/23) razed any batsman who crossed their path.
The Cobra retaliation was comfortable before Adam Semmens (49) and Shehan Bandaranayake (22) fell to Saliya Saman (2/18) and Robertson (2/22), leaving Heinz’s lower order exposed with 43 left to attain next week.
