By Jonty Ralphsmith
It’s the time of the year when the best batters and bowlers in DDCA Turf 2 and 3 get the chance to shine on the biggest stage. Jonty Ralphsmith takes a close look at week’s cut-throat semi-final action.
TURF 2
Beaconsfield v Lyndale: The Tigers, having sat on top of the Dandenong District Cricket Association ladder for most of the season, will be favoured to win. Lyndale had a hot start to the season but lost four in a row prior to the weekend, before an unconvincing win over bottom-placed Doveton. However, it does possess arguably the most dangerous weapon in the competition in Himesh Galhenage Don, who tees off from ball one, as he did on the weekend, finishing with 24 off eight. Beaconsfield will hope to see the back of him early, and have a balanced bowling attack which is clear on its roles, led by Cal Tout and Mark Cooper, so will back themselves to keep the aggressive Lyndale batting order in check. For Lyndale, if they can break the opening combination between Cooper and Tyler Clark early, the middle-order may struggle, having not been exposed to much pressure throughout the season.
Heinz Southern Districts v Cranbourne: It’s happening again! Last season Triyan De Silva stood up with a century and five wickets which has entered DDCA folklore in the same fixture between these two teams. He’ll be in action again and is coming off another reasonable season with bat and ball. They’ve also got another all-rounder who was impressive when these two teams last met in Kevin Seth, but let’s be honest, it’s a shootout between the Patterson boys and the Sweeneys. HSD opening batter Brent and strike bowler Ryan against back-to-back Gartside medallist Peter Sweeney and Cranbourne skipper Mick. They’ve led the way for their teams all year and whichever pair performs stronger is short odds to win. Like HSD, Cranbourne has depth in swashbuckling opener Harsaroup Singh and Matt Collett, but it’s no coincidence that the Eagles season got back on track after the Sweeneys found form. HSD is a young team which has made them susceptible to occasional lapses, but also provides hope of a day where everything goes right, as happened last year. Cranbourne, meanwhile, has experience and temperament and will be desperate to finally breakthrough having fallen short in the last few seasons. Another thing working in the Eagles favour is the difficulty of getting cricket played at KM Reedy Reserve early in the last few seasons, which somewhat negates the Cobras’ home-ground advantage.
TURF 3
Dandenong West v Fountain Gate: Dandy West will go in as the hottest of favourites, having just recorded one loss for the home-and-away season, and with Turf 3 medallist Nuwan Kulasekara in its lineup. Dandy West also have a bounty of experience with Anthony Brannan and Shaun Weir and has all bases covered with the ball. Fountain Gate, however, did push them all the way last time scoring 7-193 which Dandy West got in the last over with two wickets to spare. Since then, Fountain Gate put forward another impressive performance against an in-form Springvale, but was disappointing last week against Coomoora. With experienced campaigner David Sime taking the reigns as coach, there is an evenness in contributions across the board, with Karan Singh, Hasindu Waduge and the Premi brothers all taking steps forward in their cricket this year. If they stick to a clear plan to see off Kulasekara, this may be a closer semi-final than expected, but still expect Dandy West to get up.
Coomoora v Springvale: This is the hardest game to get a read on. Coomoora is a team that has so many options with the bat and finds runs so easily and looks structured with the ball, and has played with continuity. The Roos have seemed to be the clear second-best side in the competition, and showed it was in good form last week against Fountain Gate. But, there have been hiccups, and Springvale is in good form at the right time, having won four of its last five, including one between these two sides. Springy possess Nuwan Mendis, who is crucial with bat and ball in the lineup, but contributions from Pasindu Madushan and cameos throughout the batting order have eased the pressure on the main man. It’s a genuine flip of the coin.
