Parkfield maintained its spot on the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) Turf 2 ladder after surviving a scare against bottom-placed Cranbourne to win by 11 runs.
The Blues came into the clash with a clean 4-0 season record, while the Eagles had a tough start to the year, winning just one of their first four matches.
The Eagles won the toss and decided to bowl first, a decision which almost immediately paid off for captain Dean McDonell as Tim Fathers bowled Ryan Williamson for just 9.
Sam Beadsworth joined fellow Parkfield opener and his captain Dishan Malalasekera at the crease with the scoreboard reading 1/11, and the pair began to build a partnership.
After a 59-run stand, Beadsworth (22) was dismissed and Malalasekera continued on, soon bringing up his third half century of the season to guide the side to 130 off the reduced 26 overs.
Cranbourne’s Harsaroup Singh (2/25) and Saad Bin Tariq (2/27) were impressive with the ball and helped restrict what could’ve been a much bigger score without their crucial wickets.
In reply, there was only one man who stood tall for the Eagles in the run chase, and that was Singh as Cranbourne’s top order collapsed.
Cameron Kelly and Raja Ahmed made ducks, while McDonell (2) and Prasaanth Krishnamoorthy (5) didn’t get much further before they were sent back to the sheds.
Singh scored a brilliant half century before he was undone for 57, sparking further dismissals – Travis D’Souza, Nigel Van der Wert and Roshane Cooray took two wickets each as they kept Parkfield in the box seat with the ball.
Cranbourne was bowled out for 119, just 11 runs short of what would’ve been a tremendous upset victory.
HSD moved to a 3-2 record after a hard-fought win against North Dandenong in a game where the rain didn’t affect or reduce the number of overs.
On the way to a first-innings score of 138, there were four Cobras batters who made an impact, with Brent Patterson (37), Liam O’Connor (26), Anuda Akmeemana (25) and Luke Grady (24) all making valuable contributions.
Dinuka Perera was on fire with the new ball, troubling the batters to take 4/25 off eight overs.
HSD won by 34 runs in the end after a convincing bowling performance, bowling North Dandenong out for only 99.
Sakuntha Liyanage (4/26) was taking wickets for fun, while Brett Hookey (3/11) and Ryan Patterson (2/19) were also bowling a treat.
Half centuries to Lyndale pair Faraz Rahman and Himesh Galhenage Don (both 53), as well as a quickfire 26 from Satnam Singh, helped the side make 210 in the first innings, which was enough to defeat Silverton.
With 17 runs needed for victory and 14 balls left in the innings, the pressure was on the Bakers to chase the runs.
Despite losing what seemed to be too many wickets early, Rajeev Dhankar (31) and Harkanwal Singh (35 not out) did everything they could, but the team was bowled out for 194, with about two overs to go.
Narre Warren was set to host Coomoora, however the poor conditions got the better of the ground and therefore the game was not played.
