By Marcus Uhe
The second of Buckley Ridges’ big-name signings delivered with the ball on Saturday to ensure North Dandenong fell well-short of the 324-run pursuit in DDCA Turf 1 action at Park Oval.
English seam bowler James Anson took 5/39 for Buckley Ridges in a worrying performance for fellow Turf 1 sides as the Maroons fell 124 runs short of the first day total, dismissed for 200 in the 51st over.
Anson’s haul comes on the back of fellow recruit Roshene Silva’s 129 last week in what was his first completed innings for his new side.
Anson helped put the breaks on a hot start from the visitors as boundaries flew from the bats of Ramneet Dhindsa and Javed Khan.
The 28-year-old, who plies his trade for Driffield Town Cricket Club in Yorkshire, removed Khan for 25 at the score of 2/66 before claiming major scalps in the middle order of Imran Laghmani (9), Rajitha Ranaweera (0) and Clayton McCartney (0) in quick succession as his figures read 4/6 with the Maroons in trouble at 5/80.
Syed Mehmood watched the chaos unfold from the other end and remained steadfast in his innings of 83.
He formed partnerships with Muhammad Khan and Syed Shah later in the innings but too much fell on his shoulders.
At Hallam, the sublime form of Springvale South spinner Jarryd Straker continued as the leading wicket-taker in the Bloods’ defence of 269 against Hallam Kalora Park.
After spearheading the crushing of St Mary’s in round two, Straker decimated the Hawks’ lower and middle order, finishing with 5/47 from 19 overs in the 90-run win.
As Mahela Udawatte and Ben Hillard’s third wicket partnership reached the half-century milestone, it was Straker who made the critical breakthrough in his second over, spearing a quicker, flatter ball into the pads of the left-handed Hillard to remove him for 26.
He later claimed the last recognised batters in Matthew Cox (2) and Ciaron Connolly (12) to reduce the Hawks to 6/139.
Lauchlan Gregson was removed the delivery following Connolly to make it four wickets, all from LBWs.
Lee Brown then fell shortly after, thanks to a sharp juggled catch at slip from Jordan Wyatt, to complete the five-wicket haul, making it 16 scalps in two matches for the left-armer.
Udawatte was a shining light for the Hawks, showing his class with an unbeaten century (104) in his second outing for Hallam Kalora Park since crossing from Buckley Ridges over the winter.
Leigh Booth (3) and Jordan Hammond (11) could only offer minor contributions as the former Sri Lankan Test batter scored more than half of his side’s total of 8/179.
A stunning 14 wickets fell at Thomas Carroll Reserve in Berwick’s desire for a humiliating outright defeat of St Mary’s.
Berwick finger spinner Lachlan Brown took the final four wickets of the Saint’s first innings early in the afternoon, with one coming on the second ball of the day, to dismiss the home side for 89 and secure a 40-run lead after the first innings.
Wendyl Pires, Michael Dudley and Deeshan Umagiliyage soaked up plenty of dot balls, but each fell to Brown; honing-in on right handers from around the wicket to finish with 5/16.
The wicket of Pires held the key for Berwick, as the final remaining batter in the line up, and his dismissal, the ninth St Mary’s wicket to fall, was all but the end for the Saints, whose torrid year with the bat continues.
With the onus now on Berwick to make the running and chase the maximum points available for an outright victory, openers Matthew Hague and Jake Hancock kept the run rate high, a six from the bat of Hague seeing the opening pair reach a 50-run opening stand in the 10th over of the innings.
Each of Hague, Hancock and Brown scored with a strike rate in excess of 70, Matt Robertson’s eclipsing them all with 24 from 17 deliveries.
In just 24 overs the score raced to 129 when the innings was declared closed five wickets down, giving the Bears an evening session to run through the Saints’ struggling batting line up and setting the home side 169 for an unlikely reverse outright.
Jarrod Goodes turned to spin to open and was made to pay by Safaras Moahomad and Raveen Nanayakkara, who raced to 0/39 in the ninth over.
Goodes removed both openers in back-to-back overs to give his side the upper hand with the Saints entering survival mode after the early flurry of intent.
A direct hit from Toby Wills at cover to send Pires packing reduced the hosts to 5/69 and in-danger of the outright loss, but captain/coach Susantha Pradeep and Michael Dudley’s 54-run stand shepherded the home side to the finish line five wickets down with the score reaching 113.
Beaconsfield’s 133-run thrashing of Narre South saw them claim a maiden win in Turf 1 cricket, dismissing the hosts for just 103 at the Lion’s den.
Spin at one end from Yohan Arumadura and seam from Jake Cutting at the other brought about Narre South’s downfall in the middle of the innings in a collapse of 4/15.
The key wickets of Callum Nicholls and Jeevan Mendis fell in consecutive overs with the score on 45.
Mendis threatened with a glorious six down the ground but only scored from two of the 15 deliveries that he faced as he departed for just 10.
Brad Parker and Riley McDonald were removed a short time later as the hosts found themselves at 6/59 and in major trouble as the young Tigers smelt blood.
Harsha De Silva scored primarily in boundaries in his 42 as he tried his best to keep the innings together for his side.
He added 30 for the seventh wicket with Alex Cruickshank in a last vestige of resistance as the Tigers roared their way to a symbolic victory, completing the job in the 51st over.
Arumadura finished with excellent figures of 4/24 from 12 overs.
