By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION – Round 5 (day 1)
SPRAYING 408 on the grounds, wearing black armbands and honouring Phillip Hughes with a minute’s silence, DDCA cricketers set about putting on a show on Saturday to live up to Hughes’ legacy.
CRANBOURNE v COOMOORA
A BAKING sun gave best advantage to the bowlers on Saturday, but it didn’t stop three-time Wookey Medallist Steve Spoljaric from cashing in. Coomoora (56) failed to find any fluency in the David versus Goliath battle between the top and bottom sides in Turf 1. Only Michael Blackburn (19) and Michael Temby (15 not out) found double figures as Eagles’ duo Cameron Kelly (5/12) and Spoljaric (3/30) feasted on Kangaroo meat. Even without lightning fast bowler Te Ahu Davis, Cranbourne (4/163dec) proved far too mighty for the relegation-threatened Kangaroos with the ball in hand. Coomoora fought back from the bowler’s crease early, snaring three wickets to put Cranbourne on the back foot before a monster Spoljaric (104 not out) set aside any notion of Coomoora’s might. He punished the Kangaroos’ attack before declaring as Kelly (1/2) found another wicket before stumps in Coomoora’s (1/32) second innings.
Cranbourne is well on track for back-to-back outright victories and consolidating top spot in their first season after regaining promotion to Turf 1.
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v BERWICK
A CENTURY and five-wicket haul last week hasn’t seemed to satiate Springvale South (0/4) all-rounder Ruwantha Kellepotha. The spinner was hungry for more scalps as he shone on Saturday, running through the Berwick (215) line-up en route to 6/72 – to rocket him up the bowling tables with 15 wickets. Kellepotha rattled off 25.1 overs in a fantastic spell of bowling, while Nathan King (1/41) and Tim Ford (1/32) also powered in through the heat.
DANDENONG WEST v PARKFIELD
A WHEAL-LY good knock from Parkfield (78) has given the Bears’ ascendancy over Dandenong West.
Kent cricketing import Joe Wheal (78) notched his first half-ton for Parkfield as the visitors pushed towards the double ton. They were restricted ably by Bulls’ duo Jaswant Singh (4/43) and Jamie Brown (2/52). Wheal’s knock slightly deflated the Parkfield effort, but Nilochana Perera (38) and Tony Payne (29) kept the innings ticking. A pair of Matt Aslett (2/15) scalps leaves the match back at a coin flip when Dandenong West will resume at 3/46.
NORTH DANDENONG v MORDIALLOC
With contributions up and down the order, Mordialloc (6/246cc) stormed to the front against North Dandenong. The bowling tandem Michael de Kauwe (3/46) and Dean Gunawardana (2/49) did their best to halt the Bloodhounds, but the visitors were unmatched on Saturday as they set an imposing 247-run chase.
BUCKLEY RIDGES v LYNDALE
Shaking off their capitulation last week Lyndale (255) flexed its muscles against Buckley Ridges (0/3). Quyen Pham (73) and Dale Tormey (50) had the Ridges’ attack under their thumb, blasting runs around the postage stamp-sized Park Oval. Ben Watson (2/28) was economical from his eight overs while Wes Nicholas (1/64) put in a superhuman 28 overs in the searing heat to keep his side in the match.
