By JARROD POTTER
DDCA – Twenty20 semi-final
BLOODS versus Bloodhounds.
The DDCA’s Twenty20 competition has boiled down to the perennial DDCA Turf 1 finalists as Springvale South and Mordialloc will face off in the Twenty20 Grand Final next Wednesday (18 February), after knocking off Buckley Ridges and Doveton respectively.
Springvale South (104) was held to a pittance by Buckley Ridges (92), but managed to extract the visitors to claim the triumph and ticket to the big dance.
Dandenong opener Brett Forsyth (15) started strongly but succumbed to Matt Goodwright and from there the Bloods dripped out from the crease. Late order defiance from Jarrod Armitage (16) and Yoshan Kumara (13) helped give Springvale South a three-figure target to defend.
Buckley Ridges was eked from the crease by the likes of Ruwantha Kellepotha (4/9) and Craig Slocombe (2/10), as the spin-tandem gave the Ridges’ batsmen no speed to hit them off the square. Armitage (1/19) and Kumara (0/20) were also economical in the victory.
DOVETON (84) bowled its heart out, keeping Mordialloc (108) to a meagre tally first up as star recruit James Nanopoulos (3/20) tore through the Bloodhounds’ middle order. His efforts were complemented in a power-packed attack by Josh Daffy (3/20), Nathan Wilson (2/12) and Darren Pattinson (0/28). Chathura Athukorala (34) and Ryan Morris (20) kept the dogs barking as the Doves failed to execute the winning blow.
The response was equally as tricky for Doveton as Nanopoulos (23) was the only Dove to get his eye in. After he succumbed, captain Wilson (11) and Daffy (18) were the only other Doveton batsmen to connect with the cherry as Nick Connellan (3/10), Dylan Campbell (2/14) and Athukorala (2/14) bowled Mordialloc into the grand final.
The grand final commences at Springvale South’s Alex Nelson Reserve from 5.15pm on 18 February.
