By JARROD POTTER
DDCA TURF 1 – Round 11 (One day)
HEINZ Southern Districts held on, while Hallam Kalora Park and North Dandenong were left to wonder “what if?” – Hallam Kalora Park winning, but down and out by percentage.
The finals four will now clash this weekend as Cranbourne hosts Heinz Southern Districts while Springvale South faces Mordialloc.
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v NORTH DANDENONG
GIVING it’s all in a last-ditch finals’ attempt, North Dandenong (6/171) pushed the perennial premiership contenders Springvale South (5/172), but it wasn’t enough to get the Northerners into the big dance.
Shane Leonard (66) and Clay McCartney (45) pushed the hard singles and struck cleanly to give North Dandenong a strong chance with 171 runs against its name. Jurgen Andersen (28) also contributed strongly with the blade.
A little from everyone was enough for the Bloods to push on to its fifth consecutive finals campaign. Nathan King (46), captain Craig Slocombe (29) and Tim Ford (25) started it off with a bang before Yoshan Kumara (13 not out) and Jackson Sketcher (14 not out) iced the game.
Springvale South will face perennial finals-combatant Mordialloc at Alex Nelson Reserve this weekend in a Saturday-Sunday two-dayer, while North Dandenong will have to be content with sixth place as it season wound down.
HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS v PARKFIELD
THE Cobras (8/154) struck to push itself into the finals on the back of lower-order livery against Parkfield (9/151).
Trying their best to emulate the Australia v New Zealand World Cup score line on Saturday, the sides struggled to stick at the crease as Joe Wheal (30) was the best of the Bears, alongside Travis D’Souza (23). Justin Davis (4/45) put an end to any notions of a Parkfield comeback with the bat as he ran through the middle order alongside Paul Stockdale (2/34).
After a startling collapse – falling to 4/17 on the back of sensational bowling from Nilochana Perera (4/39), the Cobras desperately needed someone to stand up and strike… and that would be the captain Trevor Davies (40). In one of the most aptly described ‘captain’s innings’ this season, the Heinz skipper held off Perera while counterattacking to put a few red leather objects into and beyond the fence. With Rob Davies (29) in tow, the duo turned around the deficit before Ashan Bandaranayake (12 not out) helped the captain finish the job with three balls to spare.
Heinz will head to Casey Fields for the semi-final – as the Cobras booked its place in the finals for the second season in a row.
BUCKLEY RIDGES v HALLAM KALORA PARK
SPORADIC Buckley Ridges (7/132) efforts were no match for Hallam Kalora Park (6/134), but it was all in vain as the Hawks failed to qualify for finals.
Commencing proceedings with a 57-run opening stand, Jayson Hobbs (28) and Anuj Dal (25) impressed early but fell one after another as Hallam surged. Amila Perera (4/12) was the chief destroyer as he rattled off four scalps, but the rear-guard knock of Steven Sheedy (29 not out) prevented a complete collapse for the Ridges, who batted out their overs.
Led by Ben Hilliard (42) at the top before cameo innings from Leigh Booth (34 not out), the Hawks chased down the tally with four overs spare. Hallam’s season comes to a stop in fifth place while Buckley Ridges ends its campaign in 10th.
LYNDALE v DANDENONG WEST
LYNDALE (4/233) capped off its season in style with a resounding win over Dandenong West (134).
After starting a strong chase at home, the Bulls struggled to get going with the only fighting knocks coming from number-nine Jacob Weeks (50) and Anthony Brannan (28). Lyndale finished ninth while Dandenong West will be the bottom seed in next year’s competition, after its 11th-place finish.
MORDIALLOC v COOMOORA
IT WASN’T meant to be as Coomoora’s (89) Turf-1 farewell was short-lived at the hands of Mordialloc (1/91). Charith Fernando (23) and Scott May (18) held up their ends, but the remaining batsmen fell quickly and consistently to the likes of Monto Perera (5/16) and Ian Daniel (2/16).
The Bloodhounds only needed 20 overs to sniff out victory as Liam Kennedy (51 not out) smashed a match-winning half-ton.
Mordialloc will face Springvale South in the second semi-final while Coomoora will return to Turf 2 cricket in 2015/16.
