By Jonty Ralphsmith and Marcus Uhe
It all comes down to this: a massive semi-final weekend has paved the way for the long-awaited grand final weekend in CCCA cricket.
A GRADE
Cardinia will tackle Tooradin in the A grade grand final after a pair of contrasting contests in the semi finals.
20 wickets fell for just 199 runs across both innings at Cardinia while the batters faired much better in the Tooradin v Clyde contest.
Cardinia could only manage 108 batting first, with just two batters in Josh Browne and Patrick Nolen reaching double figures.
Joel Anderson and John Bright took three wickets each as the Bulls were dismissed in the 70th over having scored at just over 1.5 runs per over.
Dwayne Doig bowled unchanged for the Bulls to claim extraordinary figures of 24.3 overs, 11 maidens, 5/39 to dismiss Kooweerup 17 runs shy of their total.
Seven wickets down, Kooweerup were in the hunt when Bright hit Doig for six on the second-last ball before tea, but couldn’t repeat the dose the next ball, caught by Trent Wheeler in the infield.
At Carlisle Park Reserve, Daniel Walton played a lone-hand for Clyde with an excellent middle-order hundred.
Coming to the crease with his side in-trouble at 4/26, Walton made 105 to give his bowlers something to defend with 226.
But where the Cougars’ top-order faltered with the bat, outside of Cooper Shipp, Tooradin’s had no such trouble.
Half-centuries to Shane Somers and Liam Simpson laid the groundwork for the chase, which they Seagulls completed in the 73rd over.
B GRADE
Clyde and Cranbourne Meadows are through to the grand final of the B grade competition after four and eight run wins over Devon Meadows and Emerald respectively.
At Hunt Club Oval, Joshua Spittal helped Clyde recover from 4/31 to post a total of 9/182.
It was Nathan Kleinig who did the damage upfront, finishing with 5/21 off 15 overs.
Spittal came in at five and found ways to score while prioritising defence, while partner Dev Narayan Brijesh absorbed important deliveries and stemmed the loss of wickets in a 72-run partnership.
A late cameo of 28 off 24 from Sevak Singh also proved crucial for Clyde, which elected to bat first.
Stuart Williams got the crucial final wicket for Clyde, his fourth of the game as the opening bowler sent down 21.2 overs to keep the pressure on the Panthers all day after a 51-run opening partnership got them off on the right foot.
Cranbourne Meadows was put under similar pressure after being bowled out for 232.
Run-rate was never the issue for Emerald with middle-order batter Sam Booth controlling proceedings beautifully after a Caleb Lobbe half-century set the foundation upfront.
He came to the crease with the score at 5/111 and it was soon 6/122 but he batted effectively with the tail to keep his team alive.
The final stand was worth 26 runs, before Nicholas Karman was trapped in front by Jujhar Singh for five.
Amreek Mann also bowled well, picking up four wickets and Agyapal Sidhu conceded just 15 runs from 12 overs opening the bowling.
Earlier, at 6/123 it was anyone’s game before Singh came in and hit 67 while Saneev Dhankhar, Sidhu and Mann each contributed to giving the bowlers a score to play with.
C GRADE
A spectacular batting collapse of 8/19 saw Pakenham easily account for Devon Meadows.
Shane Fisher’s departure triggered the collapse as the Panthers crumbled to 68 from just 26.5 overs.
Wickets were shared evenly among the Lions’ bowling group who achieved the total two wickets down.
It sets-up a clash with NNG/Maryknoll who were inspired by individual performances of Brandon Interlandi and Ashley Bailey against Officer.
Interlandi made 68 to form the backbone of the Marygoons’ 9/162 before combining with Bailey to roll the Bullants for 122.
Bailey was the star with the ball, taking 6/35, while Interlandi snagged 3/42, as the Bullants lost their final eight wickets for 44 runs.
D GRADE
A Brent Wilson half-century helped hold Kooweerup’s innings together in its 17-run win over Pakenham as it qualified for the D Grade grand final.
After setting 166 for victory, Nicholas Booth led the way with the ball claiming five wickets including all of the top three to expose Pakenham.
Emerald had it easier against Officer, with six bowlers each getting a pole to knock over the Bullants for 76, with Noah Van Haren unbeaten at the crease on 43 when his team completed the six-wicket victory.
E GRADE
Tooradin and Pakenham were equally as commanding in their victories on the weekend.
A Robert Simpson 63 set the Gulls up to make 220 all out with contributions throughout the order after an 86-run opening partnership.
Ryan Denmaid’s six-wicket haul was in vein as Lang Lang was bundled for 88 in response.
Ray Perkins, meanwhile, ran rings around Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll, claiming 7/32 off 14.5 to have the Marygoons all out for 54 which allowed a 10-wicket victory.
F GRADE
Jason Brzezowski played the ultimate all-rounder’s game for Devon Meadows to inspire his side to victory against Upper Beaconsfield.
Brzezowski retired at 101 as the Panthers made 269, and took 5/34 to help roll the Maroons for 170.
They’ll face fellow centurion in Merinda Park’s Leigh Smith in next week’s decider, who made 114 against Kooweerup.
The Demons could only manage 149 in reply from their 70 overs.
