Finals race still alive

Steve Russell (95) led Clyde to victory over Officer with a dominant batting display. 190589 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

By Hayley Wildes

WGCA DISTRICT AND SUB-DISTRICT DIVISION

REVIEW – ROUND 13 (DAY TWO)

DISTRICT

Emerald has made its move.

The Bombers entered Round 13 in fifth position, six points adrift of Officer in fourth. Now, having beaten the top-of-the-table Cranbourne Meadows and with Officer losing to Clyde, Emerald sits in fourth position, six points ahead of Officer.

The tables have turned, and it sets up a mouth-watering clash between the Bombers and Bullants in the final home and away round of the season.

Emerald set up the win over Cranbourne Meadows by posting a total of 269 on day one. In reply, the Rebels got promising starts from openers Sibghat Ullah (35) and Rupinder Singh (34) to sit in a strong position at 2/116.

The momentum quickly shifted though. When Ullah was dismissed by Nicholas Pascoe (3/40), it began a devastating stretch for the Rebels, which saw them lose four wickets for zero runs to stand at 6/116. Pascoe, along with Sam Stapleton (2/19), did the damage.

Pardeep Singh (85) did all he could for the Rebels, but when his wicket fell, Cranbourne Meadows was all out for 248 in the 78th over, 22 runs short of a win.

Officer’s first innings total of 168 against Clyde wasn’t enough on day two. The Cougars were impressive to say the least as Steven Russell (95) fell agonisingly short of a brilliant century.

He took total control of the innings, hitting 10 boundaries in controlled, yet merciless fashion. He led the way as the Cougars chased down the required runs for the loss of just four wickets and went onto post a total of 6/208.

Cardinia was ruthless against Carlisle Park, coming away with an outright win and keeping their hopes of a top-two finish well and truly alive.

The Bulls dismissed the Vikings for 99 in their first innings, before declaring at 8/158 at the conclusion of day one. Day two saw Carlisle Park put up a fight, but with Dwayne Doig (3/28) and Brad Tanner (3/29) bowling well, the Vikings posted were restricted to 169.

That left the Bulls needing 111 runs for an outright win and with limited time left in the days play, they got straight to work.

Openers Brad Remy (36) and Justin Berry (36) blasted boundaries at every opportunity and with Matt Celima (23) also in strong form, the Bulls posted a second innings total of 5/111 in just 13 overs to claim an impressive outright win.

The win sees Cardinia (116 points) sit in third position, just four points adrift of Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (120) in second.

Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll recorded a win over bottom-placed Tooradin after restricting the Seagulls to 150 on day one.

Daniel Quinn (4/45) gave his all for the Seagulls, but the Marygoons did enough to the get the job done, posting a total of 7/151 in 56 overs as Kallon Rigby (63) played a starring role for Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll.

SUB-DISTRICT

Pakenham was unable to chase down Pakenham Upper/Toomuc’s massive total of 3/310 and was officially eliminated from the finals race on the weekend.

The Lions were always going to struggle against the Yabbies’ impressive bowling attack and with Lucas Plozza and Nick Kyval combining for five wickets, Pakenham was simply no match.

The Lions got great contributions from Scott Webster (66) and Stephen Insall (43), but no one else was able to score over 18 runs as they fell for 190 in the 71st over.

The win sees Pakenham Upper/Toomuc remain on top of the ladder, while Pakenham (fifth) now sits 26 points adrift of Catani in fourth position.

Kooweerup set the scene for an outright win over Gembrook on day one and continued on its merry way on day two.

The Demons dismissed the Brookers for just 83 runs in their first innings, before declaring at 3/148 and sending Gembrook into bat again late on day one. The Brookers entered day two at 3/64.

The Demons claimed early wickets on day two and wrapped up the Brookers for just 112 runs as Paul Bright (3/30) led the way with the ball.

Needing just 48 runs for the outright win, Kooweerup – led by Shaun Donnelly (27 not out) and Arie Hazendonk (17 not out) – got the required runs in eight overs, cruising to a big win.

Lang Lang claimed a crucial win over Catani and sent the Cats from second on the ladder to fourth.

The Tigers put up a very competitive total of 9/251 on day one and their bowlers fought strongly on day two.

Catani got an opening partnership of 70 from Josh Bethune (33) and Dustin Peebles (25), before they both fell within minutes of each other to have the Cats at 2/70.

Needing someone to anchor the innings, Liam Adams (90) stood up brilliantly, but others fell around him. With Rajind Dassanyake (4/51) in devastating form, Lang Lang wrapped up the tail relatively easily to restrict Catani to a total of 211 runs.

Merinda Park claimed a cruisy win over Nyora, defending their total of 202.

The Maroons were toppled for just 68 runs in reply as Sasindu Perera (5/17 and 12 maidens) delivered 17 brutal overs. He was unstoppable, and with Brendan Fairlam (3/34) in fine form too, Nyora had no answers.

Although the finals teams are set in stone, the logjam at the top makes it impossible to say who will finish where with one round to play.

Pakenham Upper/Toomuc (120 points) sits first, whilst Lang Lang (114) and Kooweerup (110) aren’t far behind. Meanwhile, Catani (104 points) is still well within touch of a top two finish.

The feature match of Round 14 is that of Pakenham Upper/Toomuc taking on Kooweerup, in what will go a long way to deciding finals positioning.