By JARROD POTTER
DDCA Turf 1 – Round 7 (One day)
BERWICK and Heinz damaged their finals’ chances on Sunday in their rescheduled Round 7 one-dayers, as Hallam Kalora Park and Springvale South pushed aside the Casey-area sides in the coloured-clothed arena.
BERWICK v HALLAM KALORA PARK
FLATTENED by the Hawks, Berwick (85) was left to lick its wounds and plot for a pair of upcoming wins for any chance to make finals.
Copping the brunt of Leigh Booth’s (5/22) rage, the Bears were sent back to the sheds rapidly. At 3/2 – three wickets for two runs that is – Berwick could only muster some sporadic attack as Bathiya Perera (38), Ryan Williamson (20) and Cory Bevan (14) were the only batsmen to bother the scorers.
William Whyte (4/9) was also lethal to Berwick’s order, as he notched four maidens in his miserly four-wicket haul.
The Hallam Kalora Park (2/89) response was equally brutal as Rhys Serpanchy (34 not out) and Amila Perera (15 not out) cleaned up the runs with 15 overs to spare. Falling seven-points behind fourth-placed Hallam Kalora Park, Berwick will need wins against Coomoora (currently chasing 193) and ladder-leading Cranbourne in the final round, plus a few other results to fall its way throughout the last two fixtures.
SPRINGVALE SOUTH v HEINZ SOUTHERN DISTRICTS
THE Bloods drip-by-drip did away with Heinz Southern Districts (9/140) to dent the Cobras chances of post-season action.
Springvale South (7/216) – led by Craig Slocombe (55) and a lower-order smack from Yoshan Kumara (58) was too much for the Cobras’ attack to contain as it racked up a 200-plus total. Paul Stockdale (3/28) and Justin Davis (2/69) held up their ends ably, but could not break the important partnerships when they formed.
In response, Heinz was smacked about by Jarrod Armitage (3/25) and Ruwantha Kellepotha (3/27) – as only the captain Matt Cox (35) really dug in. The Cobras now need to knock off North Dandenong (rain affected, reduced to a one-dayer) and Parkfield to scrape back into finals’ contention.
CRANBOURNE v BUCKLEY RIDGES
A LITTLE bit from a lot of sources kept Cranbourne (6/172) flying atop the DDCA ladder as the run home to finals begins in earnest. Putting behind them a mediocre Saturday against Springvale South, Cranbourne lifted across the board to take the points away from a tepid Buckley Ridges (9/130). Steve Spoljaric (49) continued a scintillating season, with solid support from Te Ahu Davis (32), Ben Maroney (27) and Jake Harrington (24).
Buckley Ridges’ import Anuj Dal (42) was the only player to fire as Cameron Dinger (4/21) and Ben Maroney (3/18) speared through the visitors.
