By Jonty Ralphsmith and Marcus Uhe
Competition for finals spots is heating up with only two weeks remaining in CCCA Cricket, as the synthetic wickets meant play was largely undisturbed by the weather conditions that beset turf cricket.
A GRADE
Wins to Cardinia and Officer have separated themselves from Clyde in the top four of the CCCA A Grade ladder.
A six-wicket haul for Cardinia spearhead Josh Browne steered the Bulls to a convincing 96-run upset victory over Tooradin at Tooradin Rec Reserve.
Browne grabbed 6-47 and bowled 14 maidens on Saturday as they dismissed Tooradin for 147.
Officer, meanwhile, was far too strong for Clyde, whose totals of 91 and 3/88 fell short of the Bullants’ 261.
Abhi Sharma and Shane White both took three wickets for Officer in Clyde’s first innings, who were dismissed in the 44th over.
Kooweerup, meanwhile, completed at outright victory over Merinda Park, who were bowled out twice for 88, and Pakenham easily accounted for Carlisle Park’s total of 88, reaching the total six wickets down.
Despite their loss, Tooradin remain 20 points clear at the top of the ladder, with Officer, Cardinia and Clyde in second, third and fourth, respectively.
B GRADE
Cranbourne Meadows’ annihilation of Clyde demonstrated the class gap between the top three and the rest of the competition, as the fourth-placed team was bowled out for just 122.
Opening bowler Agyapal Sidhu’s 4/31 off 20.1 led the bowling effort for the Rebels before Sidhu, Amarpreet Singh and Kumar Narinder all made half-centuries as Cranbourne Meadows used Saturday as centre-wicket practice.
It was a similar margin in Devon Meadows’ routing of Upper Beaconsfield, Thomas Rowe picking up 5/10 off 8.2 before a scintillating batting display.
Devon Meadows went at more than six runs an over as William Loudon (62 off 69), Nathan Kleinig (66 off 87), Lachlan O’Berine (111 not out off 91) and Chris Cleef (78 off 47) made a mockery of the bowling lineup.
Upper Beaconsfield’s batters were then able to survive 41 overs, losing only five wickets to avoid the outright loss.
Meanwhile, Emerald won outright against Pakenham Upper Toomuc, having been setup last week by an eight-wicket haul to Anthony Flint.
Emerald then declared at 1/66, Pakenham Upper Toomuc managing only 71 the second time around, with the wickets shared around, Flint getting two of them to finish with 10 for the match.
Emerald chased down the target with eight wickets in the shed.
C GRADE
The top two sides in CCCA C Grade in NNG/Maryknoll and Officer were both upset on Saturday on a surprise set of fixtures.
Devon Meadows was the only side to taste success in a run chase, reining in NNG/Maryknoll’s score of 124 in the 38th over.
Shane Fisher’s run-a-ball 59 anchored the chase for the Panthers, who achieved the total four wickets down.
Pakenham and Cardinia both defended their totals of 125, against Lang Lang and Officer, respectively.
Kaleb Van Beek’s 5-20 was the standout performance for the Lions, who dismissed Lang Lang in the 39th over for 81.
Officer, meanwhile, fell just 10 runs short of Cardinia at Rythdale Recreation Reserve,capitulating from 3-71 to be bowled-out for 115 in the 71st over.
NNG/Maryknoll remain eight points clear at the top of the table, ahead of Officer, Pakenham and Cardinia, respectively.
D GRADE
Luke Grassborow led Kooweerup to a strong win over Emerald on Saturday.
Needing 166 to win, Glassborow was part of an 88-run opening partnership that gave Kooweerup the ascendancy, before anchoring a 56-run partnership with skipper Brent Wilson.
He finished with a steady 61 that guided the run-chase and seven-wicket victory.
Cardinia, meanwhile, was well and truly outclassed by Officer, falling 144 runs short chasing 281 for victory before being made to follow on and surviving for 23 overs.
Pakenham, too, was far too good for Clyde, chasing down the target of 95 with seven wickets in hand before unsuccessfully searching for an outright win.
E GRADE
A 69-run fifth-wicket partnership guided Pakenham Upper Toomuc to victory over Officer.
Chasing 121, Pakenham Upper Toomuc was struggling at 4/42, before Matthew Southall (42) and Mark Allott (34) came together for a partnership that got them within 10 runs of victory and proved enough.
Chasing Tooradin’s mammoth score of 297, Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll made a decent fist of the run-chase but still fell 113 runs short.
Liam Hill, David Gibbs, Qasim Ali and Shamraiz Medhi each reached 30, though none were able to crack the half-century in the Gulls’ win.
Lang Lang, meanwhile, just held off Pakenham searching for an outright, after being bowled out for 75 chasing 299 in the first innings.
Lucas Halden’s stonewalling 25 off 109 was a key factor behind the Swamp Tigers keeping Pakenham at bay.
Halden was dismissed late in the day, by which time there was insufficient time for Pakenham to take the remaining wickets.
F GRADE
It was a century 36 years in the making for Devon Meadows’ Peter O’Brien, who finally reached the magical three-figure milestone in the Panthers’ F Grade win over Kooweerup.
He was the second centurion of the innings, following Jason Brzezowski’s 102 at the top of the order.
Kooweerup could only post 135 themselves, dismissed in the 60th over.
Merinda Park’s Leigh Smith also joined the 100 club, making 104 against Upper Beaconsfield at Heatherbrae Recreation Reserve.
The Maroons were dismissed for 96 in 55 overs.
Devon Meadows are sitting pretty at the top of the table, with Kooweerup, Merinda Park, Upper Beaconsfield and Pakenham all in the chasing pack.
Upper Beaconsfield and Pakenham are tied for points in fourth, only separated by percentage for the last finals place.
