Berwick bats slash Saints

A TOWERING 135 by Berwick’s Paul Evans led his team to an insurmountable 359 against St Mary’s in the final DDCA home-and-away day-one clash on Saturday.
The class of Berwick shone through on the Arch Brown batsman friendly wicket.
Rowan Purkiss continues to show his worth at the top of the batting line-up a resolute 22 to get the Bears off to the desired start. Josh Holden was the first to go on 11, allowing Purkiss to combine with league leading batsman Brad Francis for a 49-run second-wicket partnership. Purkiss was removed with Berwick cruising at 2/73 and Gavan Wills came and went for a sturdy 22, falling shortly before the tea break that Berwick entered on 3/119.
Francis once again showed why he is considered the most prized wicket in the DDCA, capping a brilliant season proper with a chanceless 76.
Evans had taken the lead role and looked comfortable against a Saint’s attack that lacked venom. He tore them to shreds with consummate ease, piecing together the season’s best innings with a run-a-ball century that dazzled the strong home crowd.
He then opened his shoulders and pounded a string of boundaries to bring his innings tally to 20 on top of three towering sixes, taking his score along to 135 off 127 balls before falling on his sword.
Ash Henry took a back seat with 30 and James Davies and Rob Chilver helped themselves to 15 a piece.
TURF TWO
Berwick met Fountain gate on a newly resurfaced field and centre wicket area at Max Pawsey reserve and honours were halved at the end of a see-sawing day’s play.
Berwick made a shaky start, two down with just three runs on the board before Brad James and Michael Dalzotto regained some stability with a 41-run third-wicket partnership before Dalzotto was caught behind. Shaun Butler made a fiery 16 and James was out for a crafty 22, leaving the Bears languishing at 5/80. In earlier rounds they would have crashed to be all out for just over 100, however they managed to hold together some reasonable partnerships to take their team total through to 157.
Ryan Williamson was the star of the show, reaping the rewards of some solid junior and representative form to knock up an innings-high 42. Williamson gave the Bears something to bowl at and they were given the chance do so later in the day with their 11 overs netting one wicket with Fountain Gate 1/19 at the end of the day’s play.
A GRADE
It was another strong performance from a third XI side that has been among the grade’s best since the Christmas break, amassing 268 from just 67 overs.
Andrew Mazzagatti got his side off to a flying start with fast-paced 67 that included 11 fours and two sixes and Sam Curtis was the first to fall for 18 with the score on 40. Tom Waters paired with Mazzagatti for a 75-run second-wickets stand. Waters fell for 30 with Berwick loosing a handful of wickets in quick time. They regained their footing thanks to a Matt Olver 51 and handy contributions came from Marty Allan (27) and Damien Quinlan (31) that allowed the Bears to declare their innings closed with five overs remaining. They were unable to grab a wicket, but will settle for more first-innings points to finish the season on a high.
B GRADE
Backing up from a reverse-outright last game, the fourth XI came crashing back to the pack with a tough day in the field that saw Cranbourne amass 323 at Berwick Primary.
Opening bowlers Andrew Taylor and Tim Renwick were unable to grab early wickets and a short spell from Michael Fowkes could bring about just one.
A second fell with Cranbourne 2/66, but it was all one-way traffic after that as the opposition took the ascendancy and the Berwick bowlers battled away.
Craig Chapman can hold his head high with 2/48 off 12 and Craig Grant and Fraser Hopgood each claimed one.
Geoff Wilcock spun his way to 2/54 off 12 and the openers Taylor and Renwick each returned to claim one apiece.
The Bears’ bats will have to come up with an enduring focus this week to knock off this total.
E GRADE
A balance of experience and youth took the field to tackle Narre Warren at Sweeney Reserve and the home side left with the upper hand after Berwick was all out for 182.
Allan and Mitch Pugh combined for a 56-run third-wicket partnership with the father-son pair knocking up 38 and 19 respectively. The wickets tumbled regularly and Ray Henry prevented a capitulation with 64 to keep the Bears in the game. Narre Warren returned with 132 off 31 overs with Berwick bowler Mitchell Hopgood capturing all three wickets to fall. The fifth XI will be looking to get some senior experience into some of its up-and-coming players this week.
JUNIORS
Under 17 (1): Narre North 5/194(cc) v Berwick.
Under 17 (3): Berwick v Noble Park 146. J. Campbell 3/35, M. Caruso 2/22, N. Workman 2/23.
Under 15 (1): Cranbourne 6/193(cc) v Berwick.
Under 15 (2): Berwick v Hampton Park 8/203(cc). T. Verhellen 3/36, L Miller 2/15.
Under 15 (3): Cranbourne Gold 3/55 v Berwick 104. A. Murray 29, L. Nicholson 28.
Under 13 (1): Berwick 2/34 v Hallam Kalora Park 110. J. Jessiman 6/6, A. Molnar 2/20.
Under 13 (2): Berwick Blue v Doveton 9/187(cc). B. Oliver 2/1.
Cranbourne 96. J. van der Staay 3/13, C. Curtain 2/21 v Berwick White 3/49. A. Sheldon-Collins 27*.
Under 13 (3): Berwick Springs Green 8/201(cc) v Berwick.
Under 13 (4): Berwick 8/262(cc). J. Colquhoun 69*, J. Fedoro 45, M. Coe 29, C. Muir 26*, J. Cross 25* v Maranatha Methodist 0/0(cc).