By Marcus Uhe
The end of the home-and-away season means finals action is upon us in the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association.
The extreme heat forecast was matched by the extreme heat in the middle of the pitch with plenty to play for on the final day of the year.
A GRADE
Cardinia’s six-wicket outright win over Merinda Park saw it consolidate top spot, and lock in a home final against Cranbourne Meadows as a result.
Bradley Hodge’s 82 was in vain for the Cobras, who posted 216 in the second innings, before the Bulls reined in the total within 27 overs.
Cranbourne Meadows snuck home by one wicket against Devon Meadows, after skipper Rajeev Dhankar’s 51 rescued them from an early innings collapse.
In a losing cause, Jamie Cape took five wickets for the Panthers.
Kooweerup made certain of its finals place in a seven-wicket win over Clyde, as did Tooradin, who chased Pakenham’s 150 six wickets down.
Bailey Lownds led the chase with 67.
A GRADE FINALS: Cardinia v Cranbourne Meadows at Cardinia Recreation Reserve. Tooradin v Kooweerup – Venue TBC.
B GRADE
Pakenham fell inches short of hauling in Emerald’s day one total of 212, dismissed for 207 at home.
Steven Varty hit 71 to top score and, at 7/192, Pakenham looked likely to secure the result, but from that point they lost two wickets without scoring to put themselves on the back foot.
The final-wicket pair of Luke Wilson and Jake Webster added 15 but fell agonisingly short of the target.
Officer enters the finals on shaky ground, thrashed by Tooradin by 57 runs in the final round, who dismissed the Bullants for just 74.
Upper Beaconsfield easily accounted for Carlisle Park’s 93, while Clyde thrashed the Melbourne Sixers by 103 to end their season on a high.
B GRADE FINALS: Officer v Emerald at Heatherbrae Recreation Reserve. Tooradin v Pakenham at Rutter Park Recreation Reserve.
C GRADE
An unbeaten 34 from Riley McLeod guided Lang Lang to a victory over Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll by a solitary wicket, despite a heroic bowling performance from Russell Perry.
Perry dismissed all of the Tigers’ top four and claimed another later in the innings to finish with 5/40, but McLeod’s wicket eluded him, and the rest of the attack in the one-wicket win that saw the Tigers take the Marygoons’ spot in the final four.
McLeod’s knock at number five was truly a lone-hand, with the next-highest score being 13.
Merinda Park made light work of Devon Meadows’ 180, needing just 29 overs to clear the target, thanks to half-centuries from Paul Wiles and Adam Newstead.
But it wasn’t enough to jump Pakenham Upper Toomuc on percentage into second, as 60 from James Stevenage helped the Yabbies easily account for Cardinia.
Likewise, Officer chased Kooweerup’s 103 only losing three wickets, all to Indiana Boswell.
Boswell had the Bullants at 3/30 before Matthew Lucas and Darren Kneebone guided the chase home.
C GRADE FINALS: Officer v Lang Lang at Heatherbrae Recreation Reserve. Pakenham Upper Toomuc v Merinda Park at Pakenham Upper Recreation Reserve.
D GRADE
Merinda Park made the bizarre decision to declare and bring its clash with Officer to a close 236 runs behind.
The Cobras said on Facebook that the side “ultimately had nothing to play for”, locked into their finals spot of third place on the table and wanting to avoid the extreme heat.
Both openers fell for ducks to leave their side battling at 2/9 before Leigh Smith and Michael Blaby added some respectability to the scorecard.
Tooradin was forced to forfeit its clash with Melbourne Sixers, while Emerald upset ladder-leaders Pakenham, chasing 148.
Elsewhere, a dashing 141-run partnership between Chris Jones (69) and Gavin Adams (85) saw Clyde thrash Pakenham Upper Toomuc by nine wickets.
D GRADE FINALS: Pakenham v Officer at Toomuc Reserve. Melbourne Sixers v Merinda Park at Barton Reserve.
E GRADE
Chris Remy’s sensational year with the bat continued for Cardinia on Saturday, hitting his second century of the season and eclipsing the 600-run barrier in the process.
Remy hit 107 as his Bulls crunched 274 in 38 overs, easily reaching Pakenham Upper Toomuc’s score of 193.
Kerala Strikers are entering the finals series on a high, dispatching Merinda Park with a nine-wicket win.
Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll survived a collapse of 6/58 to reach Kooweerup’s total of 79 six wickets down.
Half-centuries to Karanveer Singh and Greg ‘Gruger’ Hogben ensured Pakenham accounted for Devon Meadows’ target of 170 for the loss of five wickets.
Meanwhile, the Officer derby was abandoned with Officer Green 53 runs shy of Officer Gold’s total.
E GRADE FINALS: Kerala Strikers v Devon Meadows at Donnelly Recreation Reserve. Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll v Pakenham at Nar Nar Goon Recreation Reserve.
