By Marcus Uhe
Joining Dandenong West in causing a boil over in the first weekend of the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 1 action was the new-look Beaconsfield outfit under the leadership of Mick Cronin and Susantha Pradeep.
Playing away at Narre South, a venue the Tigers also won at last season, Beaconsfield recovered from a rough start with the bat to record a 73-run win over a side that was just a few wickets away from a grand final berth last summer.
No-one in Beaconsfield’s top six passed 50 as Narre South’s rejigged bowling attack, led by Liam Sheehan and Joel Zietsman, found the right formula early.
At 5/87 when Pradeep fell for four, life beyond Mark Cooper was beginning to look even tougher in reality than it sounded for the Tigers, but new recruit Abaseen Taniwal ensured his new side would not go down easily.
His 51 at number seven pushed Beaconsfield to a defendable score of 9/204, one that would prove more than adequate after the Lions failed with the bat.
Three ducks in the top five, to Morteza Ali, Riley McDonald and Adam Snelling, put Narre South on the back foot at 4/47, leaving Kyle Hardy to play a lone hand at the top of the order.
He wouldn’t last much longer, the fifth man dismissed for 28, with only some late hitting from Callan Tout and Zietsman sparing the Lions from embarrassment, dismissed for 131 in 38 overs.
Seamer, Jake Cutting returned superb figures of 3/36 from his 10 overs, with Ashan Madhushanka and Mitchell Tielen taking two apiece.
At Hallam, Buckley Ridges’ premiership defence got off to a rusty yet successful start against Hallam Kalora Park, chasing the Hawks’ target of 185 with 13 balls to spare.
An excellent opening spell with the ball from Ishan Jayarathna and debutant Prav Chahal reduced the Hawks to 3/32 early in the batting innings, before two players at opposing ends of the age spectrum in Austin Fardell and Leigh Booth combined to dig them out of trouble.
The pair added 102 for the fourth wicket and both reached the 60s individually, but were left wanting for other contributors, with Jordan Hammond the next-highest scorer on 22.
In reply, the reigning premiers lost wickets at regular intervals but scored enough runs from their senior core to reach the total with three wickets and two overs remaining.
Jayarathna (36) and Roshane Silva (47) did the bulk of the heavy lifting for the Bucks, while Hammond took 4/37 in an excellent display with the ball.
Elsewhere, Springvale South thrashed North Dandenong by eight wickets, chasing 134 in the 18th over.
It was a scenario that almost became commonplace for the Bloods last summer in white ball cricket; bowl first, roll their opponents cheaply and chase the target quickly.
Both Beaconsfield and Hallam Kalora Park fell victim to this method of execution, and this time it was the Maroons’ turn to face the music.
An even spread from the bowling attack saw last season’s runner up dismiss North Dandenong in the 39th over.
Save for some spirited defence from Randeep Sahota (zero from 17), Charith Keerthsinghe (one from 22) and Khair Muhammad (18 from 39), the innings could have come to a close much earlier, not that it mattered for Springvale South.
Having done the job with the ball, Mitch Forsyth and Jordan Wyatt went about completing the chase in rapid fashion.
Forsyth, so often the patient stable figure at the top of the innings, matched the aggressive Wyatt for tempo and intent, hitting three sixes and eight fours in an unbeaten 62 from 47 deliveries, while Wyatt fell for 42 from 29.
The pair added 81 for the first wicket before Mitch was joined by older brother, Cameron for a further 46-run stand, taking their side to the brink of victory.
