By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION – TURF 1 Round 6 (Day 2)
HALLAM Kalora Park and Cranbourne notched maximum points in a round where the wheat and chaff were well defined.
HALLAM KALORA PARK v HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS
It all went horribly wrong for Heinz Southern Districts (90 and 91) facing Hallam Kalora Park (173 and 2/9). Heinz could not rouse any resilience in its first innings as its 6/49 overnight was quickly demolished and turned into all out for 90.
Hallam had no qualms sending Trevor Davies and his men back in for a second go and the second effort was marginally better… literally as the Cobras earned an extra run over their first innings. William Whyte (7/37) surged through the Heinz batting card as the visitors’ 91 came about mostly through Justin Davis (24) and Matt Cox (20).
It left a quick-fire nine for Hallam Kalora Park to earn with outright points on offer, which were smashed by Cory Booth (5 not out).
Hallam Kalora Park moves away from the relegation zone with the important 10-point result, moving into eighth on the ladder and will head to Lyndale to finish 2014 while Heinz slips one back to ninth before its battle against Dandenong West.
CRANBOURNE v COOMOORA
They had to wait until 2.15pm, but that would be the only significant downside to Cranbourne’s (4/163dec and 0/2) second outright victory in as many weeks following a complete collapse by Coomoora (56 and 108) at Casey Fields.
The only rate Coomoora upped on Saturday was its attrition rate as wickets fell in clumps and at one stage looked like an innings-defeat was likely.
Cam Kelly (3/14), Steve Spoljaric (3/36) and Martin Kelly (2/19) left little doubt as to which side was top of the ladder as the Eagles picked off Kangaroos virtually at will. Gutsy batting from Charith Fernando (30) and Lance Baptist (29 not out) were the only bright lights on a dim afternoon for the visitors.
Mitch Temby (16) ensured the Eagles would have to bat again, but with only a one-run lead it wasn’t going to be a long chase as Ben Maroney (2 not out) struck the match winner off the first ball faced.
The win gives Cranbourne a whopping 13-point lead heading into the final round before Christmas against Mordialloc.
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v BERWICK
Two Quirks of nature left Berwick (215) licking its wounds as the next generation of Bloods’ batsmen slammed on the winning runs at Alex Nelson Reserve.
Ryan Quirk (79) showed just how prodigious he can become as he bunkered down and saw off the Berwick attack. His 206-ball epic had the 17-year-old showing the elder gents how it was done.
With a pair of under-17 hundreds already this season, Quirk stepped up to the next level in his best knock for the Turf-1 side yet as he was the last man to fall after his Herculean feat.
Quirk and his brother Dylan (55) piled on 101 for the fifth wicket after the Bloods were left in a precarious spot at 4/49 following an early mauling from the Bears.
Their effort turned the tables on Berwick and forced the field to spread at Harold Road, leaving the Quirks to push ahead and take advantage. Dylan would fall to a straightener from Ryan Crawford just after notching his first Turf 1 half-ton this season, leaving it to his younger brother to finish the job.
Quirk and captain Craig Slocombe (30) put the remainder on the board before the duo fell just a handful of runs before victory.
Berwick will host North Dandenong in the last match of the calendar year.
