By Jonty Ralphsmith
COOMOORA CHARGE INTO FINALS
Turf 3 premiership favourite Coomoora has had the perfect tune up for finals with a big win over Silverton.
Every member of the top five faced at least 30 balls, led by Dean Krelle’s half-century against a competitive bowling attack.
Rahoul Pankhania played his anchor role perfectly as Nick Suppree, Joel Robertson, Liam Hard and Krelle each played high-tempo cricket.
Chasing 192 for victory, Silverton was rolled for 50 as Malan Madusanka had a day out, taking 7/27 off nine overs to open the innings.
DOVETON NORTH CASH IN
In a dead-rubber clash in Turf 3 against Doveton, Doveton North batted first and went at a run rate of 8.11, led by unbeaten centuries to Amardeep Hothi (163 off 111) and Sachith Jayasingha (121 off 89).
There was no bowler immune from the onslaught, everyone going at an economy rate of more than six as the Lions reached 4/365 at Power Reserve, with Doveton managing only 105 in response.
TAJBIR POWAR RETURNS
Lynbrook opener Tajbir Powar returned to the field for the Lakers this weekend in a massive boost to the club’s premiership hopes.
Expected to return on semi-final weekend, Lynbrook was anticipating having to wrestle with whether to insert him straight into the 1st XI, or ease him back via a lower grade with an eye on him returning if Lynbrook progressed.
He looked confident and compact upon return, scoring 29 and holding the early part of the innings together before being dismissed LBW.
Still restricted in the field, the return of the emerging opener shores up the club’s batting stocks, with number three Sithara Perera and James Kellett also having found recent form, along with the explosive Jatinder Singh.
Powar has now scored 246 runs at 41 in the Turf 3 competition.
ETHAN MARINIC REWARDED
Popular Berwick Springs seam-up bowler Ethan Marinic backed up round 13’s five-wicket haul with another one on Saturday against Lynbrook.
He picked up 5/33 from 11 overs and among his wickets were dangerous top-order batters Tajbir Powar and Jatinder Singh.
It sees him finish the season with 29 wickets at 13.45, his gruelling spells a feature of Berwick Springs’ season.
“I love Ethan, he’s the best to captain – he’s so reliable and works so hard,” said skipper Braydon Hillman.
“We always joke that when it gets to 30 degrees-plus, he’s just going to bowl all day because he loves it.
“On the weekend, there was a bit in the wicket for him but he was so consistent, they couldn’t get him away and he was so relentless in line and length that if the batter makes a mistake, he’ll be there.
“He’s finally getting the recognition for his hard work and the way he goes about it.”
HILLMAN GOES BACK-TO-BACK
If one doesn’t get you, the other one will.
That’s what the last two weeks have proven for Berwick Springs, with Riley Hillman firing consecutive half-centuries in a rare quiet patch for his opening partner Jackson Marie.
In games where Marie has failed to fire, Hillman has delivered and vice-versa, while their tight friendship off the field means they have also batted well in tandem at several times throughout the season.
The lowest number of runs the pair has contributed between them this season is 66 against Fountain Gate in round 1.
In their 22 hits between them, there have only been five single-digit dismissals.
On Saturday, Berwick Springs was chasing 151 and Hillman made 84 of them, clattering 14 boundaries in his unbeaten knock.
The ‘keeper-batter’s form in the last two weeks propelled him into the Turf 3 team of the season, Hillman finishing with 379 runs at 34.45.
“I’ve always thought Riley is so talented – he’s my brother so of course I’m going to have a high opinion of him – but I think this year we’ve backed him,” skipper Braydon Hillman said.
“I think having Jacko there going so well – they feed off each other’s confidence.
“He plays without fear and if there’s a ball in his spot in the first over, he’ll have a crack which is what we want from him, we just encourage him to play his way.
“He’s a relaxed kid so he doesn’t let the moment get too big.
“He’s got a lot of confidence in himself, and we’ve got confidence in him, so it’s been good to see him do what we know he can.”
FOUNTAIN GATE SET TO HOST SEMI
With Fountain Gate playing all its games away in 2023-24 due to the unavailability of Max Pawsey Reserve, the league has allocated Straithard Reserve to host the semi-final.
The club is indifferent to the decision, with the short square boundaries set to play a big part.
The Gators will have Second XI skipper and Narre South junior Ray Pal’s knowledge to draw on.
Final Turf 3 ladder: Coomoora 72, Fountain Gate 65, Berwick Springs 59, Lynbrook 55, Silverton 42, Doveton North 26, Doveton 12, Hampton Park 9
