By Jonty Ralphsmith
With Doveton occupied with the farewell of Ryan Hendy on the weekend, Cranbourne streamlined its focus ahead of another premiership tilt in Turf 2 of the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA).
The club looked organised, in-sync and confident.
The Eagles’ worst loss of the season came to Doveton prior to Christmas and now their best win against the same club has proved why they should now be treated as premiership favourites.
With Beaconsfield’s middle-order collapse leading to a loss to seventh-placed Keysborough, question marks linger around who stands up if openers Mark Cooper or Tyler Clark don’t fire.
Heinz Southern Districts possess four weapons in Brent and Ryan Patterson, Kevin Seth and Triyan De Silva that could fire in finals.
Yet last week’s annihilation by the Tigers was a reminder of the youth of the squad.
Meanwhile, Lyndale seems to be doing everything it can to miss finals, with its aggressive batting not coming off in recent weeks, while an up-and-down Narre Warren and Parkfield remain in contention.
Despite the early season losses, there’s an argument that Stephen Cannon’s men are most likely to win a final of those three.
Those doubts strongly contrast Cranbourne.
The Eagles seem to have finally settled on their top four and have unearthed Harsaroup Singh as a gem to help the Sweeney brothers.
Singh affirmed he can ride the tempo and find a rhythm in his innings of 97 against Doveton.
A swashbuckler who puts pressure back on the bowlers, he played his shots but didn’t throw his wicket away and was rewarded with his longest stay in the middle.
There have been glimpses, which his skipper has emphasised, all season that Singh could ensconce himself as a vital cog in the batting order.
Singh got himself going with three boundaries in an over off Hendy, including a drive for six, but there were also a couple of occasions early in his innings where he faced five consecutive dots.
Instead for looking for the pressure-releasing boundary, he knocked the last ball into a gap, looking in control and safe in the knowledge that opportunities would present.
“He hasn’t played a lot of 45-over cricket or longer so it took him quite a bit of time to adjust,” Mick Sweeney explained.
“Early doors, in the one-day setup, he was actually harsh on himself for how long he was taking, so it’s taken time to realise how much time he has.
“We spoke to him about judging his innings on the moments – when there’s a lull in the game can he turn the strike over.
“It’s about how many balls he can face because his strike rate will naturally be fine, if the pressure comes, he does have the big strike so to see him go big was really good.”
Another key contributor is Matt Collett, a counterattacking middle-order player who can finish an innings, but whose previous role as an opener highlights he can establish a partnership.
Anthony Galley, too, would’ve been happy to get a few out of the middle, scoring 21 off 10.
Peter Sweeney’s been in ripping form all season and Mick Sweeney has upped his output in recent weeks with two centuries in the last three hits.
The runs flowed from the beginning at Robinson Reserve, his footwork both laterally and down the pitch helping him find the gaps.
His strike rate was pushing 100 for most of the innings as he came out with positive intent to quickly dampen Doveton’s spirit and flatten hopes of a fairy-tale farewell for Hendy.
He faced five balls of Hendy’s final over, stranded on 99 not out and needing to avert the script those on the sidelines were cheering for.
After four defensive shots, Sweeney eased one straight down the ground to bring up three figures.
Textbook drives pounced on that which was overpitched and anything wide was equally punished as Doveton’s small margin for error meant singles were at times applauded.
Three late innings sixes, two which nearly took out the entourage of past players, lifted Sweeney to 122 off 107 and the innings score to 5/274, the second highest score in the competition this season and early Doveton wickets meant it was never a contest.
“Harsaroup did the hard work spreading the field early so sometimes when you do that, you know where to miss,” Sweeney said.
“So we both got away with a couple.”
Sweeney noted the freer mentality to take some more time to structure his innings by moving up from five to three midseason is behind the increase in runs.
“I’m just trying to bat a little bit smarter and bat time knowing if I fall behind the rate I can pick it up or someone behind me can do it,” he said.
With the ball, Pete Sweeney ‘s first legal ball claimed a wicket and he finished with 4/22 off 8.5, showing why he’s trusted to bowl up top and through the middle.
Pacemen Marty Kelly, Jakeb Thomas Tim Fathers bowled 18 overs between them and each collected a wicket.
The bowling line-up is arguably more reliable than the batting and beats it for continuity.
Sweeney’s tight spin is complemented by the pace of Thomas, experience of Kelly and accuracy of Fathers, while spinners Singh and McDonell provide the auxiliary options.
“Tim bowls so well for us, week-in week-out.
“I went up to him to say ‘I don’t know what you’ve done to deserve this luck but you are the most unlucky bowler’,” Sweeney said.
“He bowls really well, no bad balls, yes he goes for a few runs here and there with good shots like everyone, but he swings the ball, he bowls up the top, at the death, he does everything a captain can ask of him so I hope the wickets column in the next couple of weeks reflect the efforts he puts in.”
Heinz Southern Districts’ 52-run win assures that it will finish in the top-two.
Brent Patterson had another good day with the bat, leading the team’s innings with 67 after walking out to bat with his third opening partner in as many games, this time veteran Glenn Hamilton.
Positively, too, Craig Hookey had his best knock of the season with 29.
Ryan Patterson did it on a bowling front, picking up as Lyndale limped to 109.
Beaconsfield’s loss to Keysborough, meanwhile, brings to the fore questions about the middle-order.
All season, the Tigers middle-order has done just enough when it has been called upon, but the contributions have been fleeting cameos from many.
Only once has a Beaconsfield player this season outside of the opening pair passed 50: Ashan Madushanka’s 97 at Rowley Allen.
This time, it proved insufficient as Yohan Arumadura got going and made 96, unbeaten in the five-wicket win.
There was no-one this time though, with the blunt truth exposed by the fact that sundries outscored all but the openers, with 27.
Callan Tout was the standout with the ball, nabbing 2/17.
In the other game, Parkfield put a major dent in Narre Warren’s finals hopes while giving itself a chance should it win next week.
Narre Warren now faces the prospect of catapulting to the bottom half of Turf 2 in the season following its relegation.
Narre’s innings was not dissimilar to last round against Cranbourne: after openers Zach Allen and Luke Clarke gave it a 44-run foundation, the middle-order couldn’t capitalise, with big-hitting skipper Ben Swift leading a lower-order rescue mission with 42 off 44.
Dishan Malalasekera continued his consistent season for Parkfield with a quickfire 45 setting Parkfield on its way.
The Bandits had a mini-collapse of its own before Hansika Kodikara (22 off 35) and Riley Payne (33 off 52) led them to a four-wicket win.
TURF 3
Just when Springvale looked it was peaking at the right time, it is now no certainty to make the top four after a surprise loss to Fountain Gate.
Meanwhile, Lynbrook’s loss to Dandenong West means the top four looks just about set – but all three clubs will now be desperate to avoid fourth spot and a date with Dandy West at Greaves Reserve.
Coming off wins against the top-two teams, Springvale was red-hot favourites against Fountain Gate, but a new partner for Nuwan Mendis at the top of the order didn’t work, Sean Lindsay dismissed for 11.
While Mendis’ output remained steady, as he contributed 56, the collapse-prone middle-order which has plagued Springvale this season was again exposed as no-one else got going.
The bowling line-up was then unable to stop a rampaging Randeep Premi, who smashed 13 boundaries, including six maximums, to reach 79 off 54 as Fountain Gate reached the target of 154 in 21 overs.
Luke Kerford continued on his positive form for Berwick Springs, passing 20 for the fifth consecutive week and this time playing the anchor role.
He remained calm, scoring 65 off 103, but the visitors lacked a partnership of substance, crucial in particular to beating the Roos who always keep the scoreboard ticking with the bat.
Michael Klonaridis, meanwhile, continued to quietly build a healthy looking record for himself with the ball this season.
After playing the first three matches of the season in Coomoora’s second XI, the medium-pacer took a hat-trick on debut and has 22 wickets from nine games, including two t20s, for the season, not yet going wicketless.
On Saturday he took 3/41 before usual suspect Rahoul Pankhania’s 44 off 115 led the way with the bat.
Dandenong West was back to its winning ways and skipper and middle-order anchor Anthony Brannan seems to be hitting form at the right time, scoring his third 50 in five hits to lead his team to 8/199.
Jesse Walia, who Lynbrook are sometimes guilty of over-relying on, did his share with the ball, picking up 5/17.
Lynbrook will rue the missed opportunity given it fell just 25 runs short and four batters reached 20 but none passed 50, limiting their control over the tempo of the innings.
In the other game, Hampton Park locked in bottom-spot with a terrible display in its final home game of the season.
Jesse McCarthy, who was spoken up a couple of weeks ago by his captain Clinton Gottinger as an all-rounder after a century with the bat, led the way with the ball.
His 4/10 helped Silverton dismiss Hampton Park for 43, which it reached three down.
