By Blair Burns
Hallam Kalora Park is through to the grand final against Buckley Ridges in the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) Turf 1 competition after a washout saw them claim victory over Springvale South due to a higher ladder finish.
The Hawks will get a shot at redemption against the Bucks who recently defeated them in a qualifying final where a combined 809 runs were scored.
Hallam Kalora Park finished second at the end of the home-and-away season behind the Bucks, while Springvale South finished in fourth position.
The result ends a streak of grand final appearances for the Bloods who have met Buckley Ridges in the big dance in the past three seasons, going back-to-back in 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before falling 64 runs short last year.
Meanwhile the Hawks will return to the grand final stage for the first time since they held the cup aloft in the 2020-21 season.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat first, looking to post a big total for the second consecutive week and the top order delivered in spades, despite the loss of an early wicket.
Ben Hillard (4) was the first wicket of the day as Bloods’ opening bowler Matt Wetering hit him on the pads and the umpire’s finger went up, leaving the Hawks at 1-6.
It was a big wicket after the opener scored a season-high 73 last weekend against the Bucks in the qualifying final.
This put the spotlight on Jagveer Hayer, who, after scoring an unbeaten century last week at number seven, was elevated back into his original number-three batting position.
Hayer has hit a rich vein of form towards the back-end of the season and will pose a significant threat to Buckley Ridges’ bowling attack this weekend.
Despite 188 of Hayer’s runs coming in his last two knocks, he is averaging 46.67 this season, which is a stark contrast to his 63 runs at an average of nine last year.
Hallam Kalora Park continued to take control of the game, as the consistent Leigh Booth and Hayer got the scoreboard ticking along, combining for a 117-run partnership before pace bowler Nick Boland got one past Booth (57) in the 36th over, knocking over his stumps.
The score was 3-194 and the wicket came as a reward for the Springvale South bowlers who’d been bowling a tight line and length which restricted the Hawks to just 24 runs between overs 20-30.
Hayer was met by Damith Perera at the crease and the duo immediately began to alleviate the pressure that the bowlers had worked so hard to build.
Runs were flowing nicely and the pair looked solid in the middle, until Hayer flicked one off the pads in the 55th over and took off for a single thinking it had got past a diving Wetering, but a classy piece of fielding saw Wetering underarm the ball to Paul Hill who took the bails as Hayer (82) failed to get back to his crease in time.
Enter Mahela Udawatte.
The destructive batsman was determined to pile on the runs after he missed out scoring four last weekend, and he did just that.
He belted the ball to all parts of Hallam Rec Reserve and the game was slipping away from the visitors with every ball that rocketed off the middle of his bat.
The 66th over was a big one for the former Sri Lankan test cricketer as he smashed Jordan Wyatt for two maximums to collect 15 off the over.
Perera, who has also had a brilliant season, showed his class with a cruisy 71 to push the total even higher, before Josh Dowling got the breakthrough.
As soon as Perera was dismissed in the 71st over, the intent was clear as captain Jordan Hammond wasted no time in putting Jordan Mackenzie over the fence, starting a strong last 10 overs.
The Bloods would’ve been happy to see the back of the skipper who scored 12 runs of Mackenzie’s previous over before he was caught of the bowling of Wetering.
But Udawatte continued on, and in a season where the triple figures have escaped him, the stage was set for a fairy tale finish as he entered the 90s.
But it wasn’t to be as the 38-year-old was dismissed with eight balls remaining in the innings for an incredible 92 off 66 balls, just eight runs shy of reaching his maiden century for the 2024-25 season.
Hallam Kalora Park finished their allotted overs with a total of 7-359, a score that would take some serious chasing for the Bloods the following day – Wetering (three wickets) and Boland (two wickets) toiled hard.
As Sunday rolled around, so too did the inclement weather which took away Springvale’s chance at reaching a fourth consecutive grand final.
The rain continued to fall, and the decision was made to abandon the match which sent the Hawks into the grand final and Springvale South back to the drawing board for next season.
Hammond would’ve been rapt with the way his side perfectly built their innings and kept wickets in hand, which allowed them to accelerate and score 7.15 runs per over for the final 20 overs.
The Hawks seem to have hit their straps at the right time of the year with their top-order batters standing up on the big stage.
Despite the loss last week, their last two team totals of 395 and 359 have been their biggest for the season by a long way, with 279 their top score of the regular season.
Confidence is high and they will be looking to take this form into the final game of the season this weekend.
Springvale South captain Cam Forsyth was disappointed that the weather had decided the game, adding that some late season losses hurt their chances at securing the luxury of going through in the case of a washout.
“There’s a shame there isn’t a reserve day like the other finals, but the two best teams of this season are playing off in the grand final so it’s fair at the end of the day,” he said.
“What ultimately cost us is losing three of our last four games during the season through injuries and availability, that cost us a top two position so we can’t have too many complaints (about the result).”
Forsyth said it would’ve been a good toss to win as the wicket didn’t offer much for his fast bowlers who “tried their hearts out”.
“The wicket was very different to how it has been throughout the season, it normally has a fair bit of grass but it was very dry and difficult to get wickets on,” he said.
“We expected there would be fair bit of rain on Sunday so our plan was to try and get them out early and make as many runs as we could on the day but it didn’t quite go to plan.”
It is expected to be an enthralling encounter this weekend between Buckley Ridges and Hallam Kalora Park, both sides have had impressive seasons.
“They’ve played a few tight games during the year including the recent final; both sides have batting as their strong point and if our final at Berwick is anything to go by, it’ll be quick and good for batting,” Forsyth said.
“I’d like to see Hallam win given ourselves and Buckley have had a fair bit of success over the past few years; but it’s a genuine 50-50.”
