By Nick Creely
DDCA
TWENTY20 REVIEW – QUALIFYING FINALS
Cranbourne champion and ex-Victorian Premier legend Matt Chasemore has reverse swept his way – literally – to a third Twenty20 century of the season at Casey Fields, as the Eagles booked themselves a semi-final in two weeks’ time.
The ageless left-hander, who continues to churn out runs in all formats of the game, was at his brutal best, smashing the second highest score in the competition’s history, 136 not out off 68 balls, including five sixes.
It was Cheeks’ third century in this format in the last three months, with two unbeaten centuries (128 not out and 117 not out) as the marquee player for Main Ridge in the Mornington Peninsula competition.
His love affair with Casey Fields also continued, after he smashed a record 148 not out against North Dandenong earlier this season.
But it wasn’t just his clean-striking that turned heads on Wednesday evening, with Chasemore playing the reverse sweep as his main weapon of choice, middling everything and constantly finding ways to utilise one of the hardest shots in the textbook.
People at the ground remarked that he scored at least 80 of his runs in this method, and while highly unorthodox, was a mastery tactic by the wily veteran, while others could not recall a better innings in the Twenty20 format.
And as for the opposition, Dingley, well they tried their hardest, keeping the Eagles to 3/178, before running out of overs on 5/142.
Eagles’ trio Steven Spoljaric (1/20), Jakeb McVicar (3/29) and Cam Dinger (1/19) ensured they would fall over the line against a brave and resilient Dingo batting line-up.
In other matches, a powerful performance from Buckley Ridges has seen them surprisingly thump Heinz-Southern Districts at Park Oval.
Winning the toss and batting, in-form Buck opener Susantha Pradeep (83) continued his electric T20 tournament, as the home side posted a strong 7/174.
The Cobras were well served by Lee Brown (3/28) and Kaushalya Weeraratne (2/34), while Michael Davies and Ryan Patterson snared a wicket each.
But in the reply, the strong Cobras batsman faltered, being rolled for 110 despite a tough resistance by the consistent Michael Davies (44).
No Bucks bowler really stood out amongst the pack, with Hussain Ali taking three wickets and Luke Fletcher and Wes Nicholas also chiming in with two.
Berwick has impressively knocked off Hallam-Kalora Park at home, after a crafty half-century to Darren de Souza (54 not out).
The Bears elected to bat against the Hawks, posting 3/140 off their 20 overs, with de Souza carrying the bat and steering the ship, while the powerful Nathan Pilon (48 not out) and four sixes, helping set up an intriguing run-chase.
Jake Cutting (1/15 off four) continued his excellent tournament with the ball.
And the Hawks never recovered from two early blows, with a brilliant and pressure filled display of bowling and fielding seeing the away side bowled out for just 102.
Jarrod Armitage (3/19) was electric, while James Wilcock (2/9) provided the control, and Jarrod Goodes (1/15), Michael Wallace (1/15), Adam Watson (1/18) and Jack Phillips (1/20) tied down the frustrated Hawks players.
And Parkfield has prevailed in a low-scoring thriller at Carroll Reserve, with St Mary’s just falling short of an epic victory.
The Parkers elected to bat, scoring just 93 off 18.2 overs, with Dylan Hadfield (17) top-scoring.
Saints paceman Stuart Dowel (2/11) was the pick of the bowlers, as they ramped up the pressure on the Turf 1 side.
And the Saints very nearly won, finishing on 8/82 off their 20 overs, with Joseph King (3/9) bowling one of the spells of the tournament to date.
Hemantha Alles (2/17) and Travis D’souza (2/13) were other strong contributors in the win.
The Semis will be played on 25 January at 5.15pm, with Cranbourne to face Parkfield at Casey Fields and Buckley Ridges to host Berwick at Park Oval.
