By Jarrod Potter
ALL-ROUND class from Jess Mathers helped guide Merinda Park (5/137) to a comfortable five-wicket victory over Lyndhurst Vikings (7/132cc).
Mathers (3/9 and 35) struck early with the ball, dismissing both Vikings’ openers cheaply to have the home side struggling at 2/5. The pain got worse for Lyndhurst at 4/20 when Stephen Marshall and Mark Henry departed, with Adam Newstead and Mathers taking the scalps.
The rescue work was left on the shoulders of David Spencer (52) and David Greensmith (51 not out), who rallied to pull the Vikings towards a competitive total. When Spencer hit out against Brendan Fairlam, the pair had eked out 74 runs together to reach 5/94. Greensmith saw out the overs and Steven Henry (17) chipped in as well to get the Vikings to the innings break with a defendable total.
In response, Merinda Park lost their first three wickets cheaply, with Heath Straughair (2/17) making up for his three at bat with two wickets as Merinda Park started to wobble.
As with Lyndhurst, Merinda Park found two rescue workers in Mathers and Glen Ward (55 not out) to get the Cobras out of problem territory. Merinda Park made the runs with six overs to spare. Henry (2/28) was the other multiple wicket taker for the Vikings.
The loss makes it difficult for Lyndhurst to make the finals, sitting sixth with 26 points and percentage separating them from St Francis Xavier in fourth. Merinda Park has stitched up a finals berth, and will fight for a home ground semi final in a three-way battle for first place with Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll and Devon Meadows.
Merinda Park has Nyora at home this week, while Lyndhurst Vikings travel to Catani to keep their season alive.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:NAR NAR GOON/MARYKNOLL v EMERALD
Emerald (9/101cc) was dispatched clinically by Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (6/105) as the home side kept their top spot aspirations secure for another week. Sam Vanderzalm (4/12) tore through the Bombers’ middle order after Tom Keily (2/15) and Vinny Van Strijp (1/24) claimed early wickets. Emerald never generated enough momentum to get to a big score. The top contributor for Emerald was from the extras column (24) as the Marygoons were wayward with their deliveries to concede 15 wides.
Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll was a one-man batting show as Steve Lewis (64 not out) propped up some shaky batting around him. The Marygoons were 3/12 before Lewis found enough help from Daniel Glen (9) and Craig Lewis (12) to get the home side to a four-wicket victory. The Goon has a season-defining challenge next week against Devon Meadows and Emerald faces St Francis Xavier at home.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:ST FRANCIS XAVIER v CATANI
Catani (8/173cc) put the runs on the board, but it wasn’t enough to grasp the points as St Francis Xavier (8/174) narrowly chased them down.
The Blues got off to their customary start for 2011/12, slumping to 3/16. This time, however, there were batsmen to lift the visitors out of the hole. David Williams (39), Paul Tulip (33) and debutant Achala Siriwardhane (29) got the runs flowing. Darren Morrow (2/29) was impressive in his St Francis debut, partnering well with Chris Shepherdson (1/17) as the new ball pair.
St Francis chased down the total with eight balls to spare, but not without a few scares along the way. After cruising at 0/55, the X-Men staggered to 4/109 before Shannon Warn (29) and Brad Hunt (16 not out) got the job done for the home side. Tim McMahon (2/29) was the best of Catani’s bowlers. Catani faces Lyndhurst Vikings, while St Francis travel to Emerald.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:NYORA v DEVON MEADOWS
Hats off to Peter Zauner (4/22) in another impressive display of swing bowling as Devon Meadows (5/122) took the points against Nyora (8/122cc).
At 5/47, Nyora was in danger of a sub-100 score, but the rallying came from Adam Tagliaferro (22) and Paul Hendry (22) to get over the three figures. Lucas Carroll (2/25) was the other multiple wicket taker for the Panthers.
After some early hiccups, Devon Meadows lurched to 3/34 and it was left to captain Shane Filius (37 not out) and Jason Holman (20) to do the heavy lifting. They got the job done with two overs to spare. Troy Ferguson (2/14) took a double for Nyora. Devon Meadows has Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll at home, in the match of the round and Nyora faces Merinda Park.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:SUB-DISTRICT
GEMBROOK v CRANBOURNE MEADOWS
The Murdochs – Brent and Lee – flayed Gembrook (86) to all corners of the ground as Cranbourne Meadows (5/221cc) piled on the pain in the battle of the cellar dwellers.
Brent (105) knocked home his second century for the season as he smashed seven fours and six sixes against the Brookers’ attack. Lee (59) didn’t let him hog too much of the glory, hitting his own half century as the pair turned the screws.
Gembrook went into bat with all the work ahead of them, and were unable to match the challenge. They succumbed for 86 in 31.5 overs. David Waller (4/22) led the onslaught for Cranbourne Meadows with the ball with good support from the Murdochs. Brent (2/8) capped off an all-round master class with a couple of wickets to his name. The Rebels face Tooradin this weekend and Gembrook travels to Lang Lang.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:UPPER BEACONSFIELD v LANG LANG
Despite the absence of Sub-District strike weapon Bodie Brown, Lang Lang (6/119) still managed to skittle Upper Beaconsfield (116). Paul Atkins (44) fought hard against the Swamp Tigers’ attack, from the time he stepped to the crease at 2/17. Aaron Creasey (3/31) and Rogan Fraser (2/17) did the job to dismiss the Maroons’ top order. Atkins found some support from Shannon Bergman (20) and Lachlan Harrison (14). Gareth Andrews (3/7) feasted on tail end wickets as Upper Beaconsfield was bowled for a sub-standard total.
In response, Lang Lang lost a couple of early wickets via Upper Beaconsfield’s Kyle Gibbs (3/17) and Shawn Hassall (3/27). The burden was placed upon Ricky Caddell’s (61) shoulders. Not making the same mistake as last week when he was Mankaded by Tooradin’s Mat Walker, Caddell stayed in the crease and struck cleanly to guide the Swamp Tigers towards victory. With help from captain Ross Douglas (28), the pair hit the majority of the necessary runs to get Lang Lang home. Lang Lang faces Gembrook and Upper Beaconsfield travels to Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:CARDINIA v NAR NAR GOON/MARYKNOLL
Cardinia (0/109) only needed two batsmen to get the job done against Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (104).
Brad Remy (87 not out) and Ryan DeReus (16 not out) made light work of a light case, after the Cardinia bowlers skittled the Marygoons for 104.
Marygoons’ batsmen Mich-ael Lewis (30) and Jackson Payroli (20 not out) scrambled whatever runs they could find as wickets fell around them. Kallan Braid-Ball (3/26), Travis Welsh (2/13) and Ryan Little (2/16) did the damage for Cardinia.
The response was energetic to say the least, as Remy smashed his half century from only 10.4 overs at the crease. Remy hit eight sixes in his innings, which was made at such a blistering pace, non-striker DeReus didn’t score his first run until Remy was on 70. Remy must have gotten ideas from David Warner’s smash-fest in the Perth Test match as he went on a similar rampage at E Gunton Oval. Remy’s blade tore apart all comers as the Marygoons used five options to try and stem the haemorrhaging. Remy ran out of runs to cannon to the boundary as Cardinia surpassed the Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll total easily. Cardinia’s win keeps them in contention not only for finals, but to avoid relegation, percentage points off Tooradin in fifth and eight points away from Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll in fourth. Cardinia faces Clyde away while Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll will host Upper Beaconsfield.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:TOORADIN v CLYDE
Tooradin (77) felt the flames of Clyde’s onslaught (5/88), as the visitors scorched the earth and left nothing but destruction in their wake. Dean Williams (5/20) and Pat Lawson (4/11) left no room for Tooradin to fight back.
Michael Ralph (14 from 38 balls) and Rick Holland (5 from 20 balls) held on for as long as they could, but when the pair succumbed the last six wickets fell for 16 runs.
The response from the Clyde batsmen wasn’t as definitive as with the ball. The game hung in the balance as the Cougars fell to 5/54 with Holland (2/17) and Rory Alder (2/20) getting urgently needed wickets. The Clyde cornerstone was Brad Goodman (32 not out), who held on to get the job done as the Cougars reaching the total with 10 overs to spare. Clyde faces Cardinia at home, while Tooradin needs to get the job done against Cranbourne Meadows to stay out of danger in the race for the finals.
