There is one spot up for grabs in the top four of the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s Turf 3 competition after results in round nine opened a large chasm between the contenders and the rest.
22 points now separates fourth place from third, as important wins for Silverton and Keysborough saw them keep pace with ladder-leading Fountain Gate.
As a result, all eyes will be on fourth place after Christmas, with the jostling in the second half of the season to be one of the major talking points.
At present, Lynbrook holds the position, but has Hampton Park and Berwick Springs breathing down its neck, with all three locked on 24 points after nine rounds.
Hampton Park returned to the winner’s list with a comfortable 106-run win over Narre North, set up by a lethal opening spell from allrounder Ranees Khaleel.
Khaleel removed openers Aydin Akin and Danial Kamil, and Dylan Rowney for two ducks and a five between them, putting Narre North immediately into a major deficit in its chase of 241.
Resistance from Thanigaivasan Ratnalingam in the form of an unbeaten 48 offered the most opposition and ensured Narre North lasted 52 overs.
Khaleel finished with 4/28 as the pick of the Hampton Park bowling attack.
Berwick Springs’ loss to Silverton saw them slide down to sixth, despite finishing three wickets away from a reverse outright result.
Silverton made the required 35 extra runs early on day two in its first innings before the Bakers were dismissed for 162, banking first-innings points.
The Titans returned to the batting crease for a second innings, posting 156 in 49 overs, leaving Silverton 27 overs to chase 128 runs.
Regular wickets put them in danger of conceding the reverse-outright, however, scraping to 7/100 at stumps, 28 runs shy of the target.
Dylan Hayes finished the match with eight wickets and Harkanwal Singh six for Silverton.
Keysborough, meanwhile, claimed the final three wickets required to defend its total of 172 against Lynbrook, but not before a sturdy Lakers fightback.
At 7/95 at the beginning of play, the result appeared a fait-a-compli for the Knights, three wickets away from an easy six points after an excellent showing with the ball.
Lynbrook’s tail end, however, was up for the fight.
Medie Dala and Anubhav Chopra added seven more runs to their pesky eighth-wicket partnership before it eventually came unstuck on 42, but it wasn’t the last of the tail-end torment for Keysborough.
Jesse Walia and teenage sensation Yashwant Singh took up 14 overs and added 34 for the final wicket to meddle with the Knights’ frustrations.
Walia would be the last to go, for 30, after Keysborough captain Christo Otto switched Chanaka Kahandawala’s bowling end.
Lynbrook finished 23 runs short, forcing Keysborough to bat again until the tea interval.
Jattinder Singh caused some extra mayhem with two wickets at the end of the first over, but the threat soon diminished, thanks to another half-century for Kahandawala.
Turf 3 cricket resumes after Christmas with Lynbrook heading to Hampton Park, and Fountain Gate hosting Silverton for the first time this season at Max Pawsey Reserve.
The contests will have significant ramifications on the race for first and fourth place, respectively.
