By Nick Creely
DDCA TURF 1 AND TURF 2
REVIEW – ROUND 7
Weather all but wiped out the round of cricket in the Dandenong District Cricket Association Turf grades on Saturday, but Springvale South were one of the lucky ones and banked a vital win in the process.
In the only game in Turf 1 on Saturday, the Bloods were merciless against St Mary’s, sparked by yet another stunning bowling display from gun left-arm spinner Jarryd Straker.
Missing usual skipper Nathan King, the Bloods were sent in with stand-in captain Ryan Quirk opening up, and the visitors did a fine job to rack up 7/174 from its 45 overs.
With Quirk setting the tone with a classy 34 from 51 balls, the Bloods’ star recruit Clint Tomlinson was once again the main man, crunching another eye-catching 44 to be the catalyst for the strong total.
The high-profile recruit, who was originally from Western Australia and played state Under 23s before dominating for Bentleigh ANA last season, has piled on scores of 75 and 56 alongside Saturday’s 44 to already establish himself as one of the association’s biggest stars.
Kusan Niranjana’s incredibly consistent season continued with the Saints, snaring 3/46 from his 12 overs to be the pick of the bowlers.
Despite a fluent start the saw 32 runs scored for the first wicket, the class of spinner Jarryd Straker (6/17) and fellow left-arm tweaker Akshat Buch (3/29) proved too hard an obstacle with the home side bundled out for just 78.
It’s the second five-wicket haul for the gun Bloods spinner this season, and his third best figures at the club since joining in 2016/17.
The highly-anticipated clash between Hallam Kalora Park and Berwick was washed out, as was the matches between Buckley Ridges and Narre South and North Dandenong and HSD.
In Turf 2, Dandenong West drew level on points with Cranbourne and Beaconsfield after knocking over the Eagles at Casey Fields.
The Eagles won the toss and elected to bat, but were struggling for momentum with the outset, with talented spinner Riley Siwes dominant with 5/32 from seven overs.
Despite strong fight from reliable opener Dean McDonell (41), the Eagles were restricted to just 7/136 from its 45 overs.
The Westers lost dangerous top-order bat Matt Collett early and did lose regular wickets, but managed to recover through skipper Anthony Brannan (46), who guided the visitors home with a cool hand.
Parkfield and Narre North was the other match to get a result in, with the Bandits once again impressive at home as they continue to keep in touch with the top-four.
The home side batted first, and largely through the efforts of middle-order batsman Tanil Dehigaspitiya (61), posted a strong 8/195, with Dishan Malalasekera (36) also chiming in with some handy runs.
While the visitors found themselves 1/77 and in a position to potentially push for a victory, an inspired bowling effort from Nick Jeffery (3/38) and strong support from Dakotah Binney (2/34) was enough to restrict them to 9/145.
Narre Warren and Beaconsfield was washed out, as was Lyndale’s home clash against Parkmore Pirates
