By Marcus Uhe
Dynamic Springvale South batter Jordan Wyatt made Park Oval his own on Saturday in a highly-anticipated grand final rematch between his Bloods and Buckley Ridges in the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 1 competition.
Wyatt crunched 129 from just 90 deliveries to notch his second hundred for the season as the Bloods posted a mammoth total of 9/361 on the first day.
Reaching the crease after the Forsyth brothers, Cam and Mitch, and Ryan Quirk had laid a solid foundation, Wyatt immediately found his groove with a handful of early boundaries.
He scored in all areas of the ground, picking gaps and hitting good, controlled cricket shots, ignoring the temptation of Park Oval’s minuscule boundaries, hitting just the one six.
His fifty came off just 33 deliveries, the milestone reached by crunching a cut shot to the square boundary, watching the Kookaburra disappear into his adoring teammates under the shade of the trees on the Pultney Street side of the ground.
It was his third consecutive boundary of the over, cashing in on a loose over from seam bowler James Anson as the star number four looked to shift gears.
Anson had the chance to bring his innings to a close in the very next over on 56, just before the tea break, but dropped a straightforward catch at mid-on off the bowling of veteran spinner Westley Nicholas.
Wyatt would go on to make the Bucks pay, adding salt to the wound with every run in what was the Buckley bowlers’ second consecutive Saturday in the field, in hot conditions in the heart of Dandenong.
He needed just 11 overs to go from 50 to 100, reaching the milestone on his 72nd delivery with yet again, consecutive boundaries off part-time spinner Jake Cronin.
A delicate late cut into the cricket nets was followed by an elegant sweep backward of square, down on one knee, to the delight of teammates and typifying his ability to score in all parts of the ground.
In opener Mitch Forsyth, he had the ideal steadying force to rotate the strike and alleviate the pressure to hit continuous boundaries, the two putting on 130 for the third wicket.
Forsyth’s 70 was his highest score for the year, and will no-doubt fill the opener with confidence having scored runs against a quality bowling attack.
The partnership came to a close after Forsyth shelled a catch to a catching cover off Cronin’s first delivery for the afternoon.
The decision to throw Cronin the ball proved successful for the Bucks, as the off-spinner snared five wickets, albeit conceding more than five runs per over.
He removed Wyatt LBW, attempting yet another sweep, before taking more crucial middle order wickets in Jordan Mackenzie and Yoshan Kumara for 28 and seven, respectively, as the Bloods eyes quick runs.
Cameos from Stephen Hennessy (34) and Jarryd Straker (29) helped push the visitors to the imposing score late in the afternoon, with runs at a premium due to the Bloods’ weakened bowling lineup.
Two of their leading wicket takers, in all-rounders Blade Baxter and Jackson Sketcher, were unavailable for selection due to personal commitments, meaning Kumara, Sketcher, Josh Dowling and Adam Read will need to bowl plenty of overs next week.
It presents an opportunity for the Bucks, desperate for a win to keep their chances of playing finals cricket alive, but they’ll need to bat at their very best to haul-in such an imposing total.
Roshane Silva, who spent most of the afternoon on the bench after injuring his finger while fielding, shapes as the key man for the home side, while the likes of Cronin, Jayson Hobbs and Ben Wright will be eager for big scores, having not matched their own high standards from previous years in the current campaign.
North Dandenong’s Turf 1 season has fallen in a heap, facing the possibility of an outright loss next weekend against a Hallam Kalora Park side that is peaking at the perfect time.
The Maroons were rolled for a disappointing 134 on their home turf, the innings lasting just 44 overs, with William Whyte the chief destroyer, taking 5/50.
Jawid Khan’s consistent year continued, hitting his sixth score of 40 or higher with 42 at the top of the order.
But his wicket, a sharp catch by Ciaron Connolly standing up the stumps to Jordan Hammond, set in motion a terrible collapse for the home side, plummeting from 1/58 to 4/62 as the Hawks made a mess of the top order.
Following Khan’s dismissal, two wickets fell in the following six balls, both to Whyte, removing Syed Mehmood for three and Rajitha Ranaweera for a third-ball duck.
Hammond bowled for the duration of the opening session while Lauchlan Gregson and Whyte rotated from the other end, Gregson coming off a five-wicket haul in his last bowling effort against Buckley Ridges.
Whyte and Hammond shared the first eight wickets of the innings, with Whyte snaring the crucial middle order wickets of big-hitting Tahsinullah Sultani and Imran Laghmani for 23 and 26 respectively.
Those two were the highest individual North Dandenong scores outside of Khan’s, missing a golden opportunity to get the season back on track, having dramatically fallen away since the Christmas interval.
The Hawks made the most of the extra time afforded to them with the bat after the stellar performance of the bowlers, making their way to 2/88 at stumps.
Having made a change at the top of the order with Jagveer Hayer not selected after a lean run of form, Connolly maximised the chance to spend some critical time in the middle with a patient, unbeaten 29 off 97 deliveries.
His new union at the top of the order with Leigh Booth did not begin in the best circumstances, with Booth bowled by emerging left-arm quick Sudes Khan in the opening over of the innings.
Ben Hillard joined Connolly for a 41-run partnership off 24 overs, before he too fell to Khan for 10.
The patient approach didn’t apply to Mahela Udawatte, however, the Sri Lankan putting the heat right back on the bowling attack late on a difficult day.
Where his teammates had been content to bat out the overs and take their time with the result, Udawatte crunched 41 from 52 deliveries, with two sixes and five fours, drastically lifting the intensity of a quiet afternoon session.
Udawatte’s teammates were enthralled as he targeted the leg side boundary, a textbook swivelling pull shot for six off Khan landing not far from a player’s viewing area containing a very content group of Hawks.
He did wear a blow to the body late in the day from Khan, but managed to grit out the remaining for overs to leave his side in a brilliant position ahead of the second day.
Reaching 2/88 at stumps, the Hawks only need a further 47 runs to claim another critical six points in an enthralling run home.
Beaconsfield, meanwhile, is on the precipice of a maiden Turf 1 win on its home pitch, in a commanding position against St Mary’s at Perc Allison Oval.
The Tigers reached 3/273 thanks in large part to significant contributions from Mark Cooper and Ashan Madhushanka.
Evergreen opener Cooper’s consistent year continued with 84, his fourth half-century of the season, only to be bettered by Madhushanka’s 89.
Starts for Tyler Clark, Yohan Arumadura and Kevin Seth helped push the total along, filling the gaps left by the veterans.
Spinners Mohuburhman Sherzai, Navoda Hettiarachchi and Saveen Nanayyakara each took one wicket each for St Mary’s, which will be striving to claim its first Turf 1 victory of the season next week.
