A GRADE
A 48 from Merinda Park’s Jordan Bertrand was not enough for his side to chase down Officer’s target of 191.
After an early wicket, opener Robert Strand stabilised with Bertrand at number three and then Brendan Fairlam, but once Officer got into the middle order the hosts couldn’t stem the bleeding.
After his opening spell claimed the first wicket, Abhi Sharma got rewarded in the wickets column when he returned to the attack, finishing with 5/26 off 12 overs.
Daniel Irvine also bogged down the Merinda Park innings, conceding just 19 runs from his 20 overs.
Tooradin, meanwhile, used Saturday as batting practice in the middle, easily accounting for Kooweerup’s 89 before allowing their middle order to go about their business.
The Seagulls were six down when they passed the target and the Demons’ bowling attack ensured they couldn’t up the run-rate and seek an outright victory.
After being dismissed for 99, Carlisle Park also prevented an outright win to Clyde, who batted quickly in reaching 9/183 off 45 overs before sending the hosts back in.
Duke Miller finished unbeaten on 101 to save some pride for his side, and alongside him at the conclusion was David Nutting on 44.
Pakenham was another forced to avoid an outright and, although not convincing, they too were able to hold on.
Chasing Cardinia’s 242, Pakenham was skittled for 75 in its first dig.
Even that looked a fair effort, given tight bowling from Cardinia had them 5/14 early on, and Josh Browne sustained that intent throughout with 5/22 off 12 being his final figures.
They were a tad more convincing in their second effort, following on, not losing as many early wickets.
Dene North and Paul Kezik combined for a 62-run partnership and just as it looked they would bat out the day, Matt Welsh broke up the partnership.
It was one of his three second innings wickets and sparked some concern in the Pakenham dressing room, but the hosts were able to hold on and avoid an outright by three wickets.
B GRADE
Devon Meadows was clinical in its batting performance against Pakenham Upper Toomuc, going at seven runs per over to propel them to an outright victory.
After bowling out the visitors inside 40 overs in their first dig, Devon Meadows batters Connor Harmor (63 off 66), Nathan Kleinig (103 off 94) and Nick Sleep approached the target with positivity and intent.
The trio hit 43 boundaries between them, allowing Devon Meadows to declare with almost a full day of play remaining.
They only needed 26.5 overs, though, to clean up Pakenham Upper Toomuc a second time, with Mick Floyd leading the bowling attack like he has done so often before.
Having already won the first innings, Cranbourne Meadows rubbed salt into Tooradin’s wound, bowling them out for 163 despite a fighting half century to Thomas Rudeforth.
It left them more than 20 overs to reach their target of 78, but they needed just 6.1 overs as 12 boundaries were struck, led by a fluorescent 48 to Jass Dhaliwal.
Meanwhile, at Emerald, the hosts had already passed Clyde’s total of 85 going into the second part of the match and declared early with a 115-run lead to give themselves a chance to knock them over again.
Sam Booth led the batting with 68 from the middle-order while nine bowlers were used to try and unsettle Clyde, to little avail as just three wickets were captured in the second innings, limiting the damage for the tourists.
C GRADE
It was tight all day at Officer which needed 217 for victory against Devon Meadows and ultimately did so with just 28 balls to spare and two wickets in hand.
Wayne Duke’s 50 off 106 set the platform for the chase, his partnership with Daryl Hargraves (38 off 74) before losing a wicket put the visitors on the front foot.
Two wickets in quick succession got Devon Meadows back into the contest given the run-rate hadn’t gotten away from them.
Batting at four, Jayson Dryden stood up with 49 and then cameos from the lower middle order kept the run-rate in check.
Officer lost four wickets for nine runs while still more than 20 runs in arrears, leaving it to tail-enders Dylan Aluthwatta and Virat Bishnoi to finish the job.
Abhishek Iyer’s 1/8 off eight overs proved critical given how tight the run-rate got.
At Lang Lang, the Boswell boys led the way for Cardinia, which was defending 127.
Craig ended up with 4/9 off 14 and Lachlan finished with figures of 3/10 off 10 as Lang Lang was knocked over for 67.
The Swamp Tigers were sent back in but an outright looked a long shot and it proved a bridge too far for Cardinia, which just took home the first innings points.
In the other C Grade game, an unbeaten 84 from classy left-hander Troy Wilson for Pakenham guided them to the target of 181 over Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll despite a miserly spell from Ash Bailey.
D GRADE
It was yet another wonderful knock from Steve Pursell that guided Officer to an outright win on Saturday.
He finished with 92 not out next to his name, going along quickly in partnership with Tim Smith (65) which opened up the opportunity for more points.
Declaring 96 ahead after 34 overs, there was ample time to go hard after Cardinia again.
Opening bowler Josh Beddows led the charge with 4/17 off his 11 overs.
Cardinia’s second dig yielded just 51 runs as the Bulls were bowled out after 28 overs, just one batter reaching double digits.
Kooweerup, meanwhile, fell 22 runs short against Emerald.
If they had batted out their overs, the Demons likely would have been on the other end of the ledger, but they were bowled out inside 65 overs after a collapse of 5/1 to finish the innings.
A 133-run partnership between experienced opener Brent Wilson and Lachlan Walsley looked likely to steer them to an impressive run-chase.
But both fell in quick succession, putting pressure on the middle order which ultimately crumpled.
Alex Barbour and Jack Scalora were largely responsible for turning the tide of the match, finishing with seven wickets between them, the former at an economy rate of less than 1.5.
At Ramlegh Recreation Reserve it was a run-fest as both teams capitalised on the lightning quick outfield, but Pakenham, chasing 329, ultimately fell 15 runs short.
Opening bowlers Manmeet Singh and Shelton Nathan kept things tight upfront for Clyde, but after that Pakenham injected rhythm into their innings to make a fist of the run-chase.
Eight batters reached at least 14 on an ideal day for batters, but they were ultimately bowled out in the 69th over.
Opener Craig Hart (74 off 94) and number eight David Auld (63 off 67) were the standouts in the batting order.
E GRADE
Tooradin treated Clyde’s bowling attack with disdain, racing past their total of 89 to reach a score of 8/337.
Using Saturday as centre wicket practice, six players got substantial time out in the middle, led by a century to Darcy Freeman 115 and 65 to Johno Sherer.
One positive for Clyde was the bowling of Brendan Finch, who claimed 4/52.
Cardinia forfeited its clash against NNG/Maryknoll as did Lang Lang against Pakenham.
F GRADE
Merinda Park recorded a tense six-run win over Pakenham.
Greg Hogben carried his bat, finishing on 100, and had plenty of other contributors bat with him during the chase of 280, including Ayman Sahar who he shared a 137-run partnership with.
Five more batters reached double figures but none were able to kick on and get right on top, Merinda Park applying enough pressure to get the advantage.
The opening bowlers were the standouts for Merinda Park, Robert Ferguson claiming 4/52 and Meaul Karunaratna leaking less than two an over from his 14.
In the other F Grade match, Gerhard Krauser had another strong week, his 77 guiding Kooweerup over the top of Upper Beaconsfield.
