Maroons in Doighouse

By Kane Latham
FIVE wickets to Cardinia spinner Dwayne Doig have put the Bulls in the box seat against Upper Beaconsfield.
A quickfire 95 runs to Mick Giles helped Kooweerup to a strong total against Beaconsfield and Tooradin and Catani look almost out of their respective games against Pakenham Upper/Toomuc and Officer.
At Upper Beaconsfield Rec Reserve, Upper Beaconsfield won the toss and elected to bat, but the Maroons immediately regretted the decision as Dean Henwood picked up the early wickets of Julian Bayard (1) and Chris Pentland (5), taking the score to 2/11.
That quickly became 5/37, as Doig picked up his first wicket for the day, and from there it was all downhill for the home side as Cardinia went in for the kill.
Doig tore through the middle and lower order, bowling out the home side for just 82 runs in 55.1 overs.
Luke Pitcher (19) was the only batsman to make a notable contribution.
Doig finished with 5/22 from 19.1 overs, including nine maidens, and was ably assisted by Dean Henwood (2/13 from eight) and Jason Fisher (2/21 from 11).
With 21 overs to bat, Cardinia batsmen Mark Cooper and John Nooy worked hard at the crease, reaching 0/37 at stumps, the game well and truly in their control.
Kooweerup elected to bat first against Beaconsfield and Mick Giles sent out a warning to the rest of the competition, smashing 95 runs, including 11 fours and two sixes.
When his wicket fell to the bowling of Ray Cook, the score was 2/117.
Shane Dole was removed for six but this brought Chris Bright and Trav Canavan together for a 71-run partnership.
Canavan went 29 to Cam Henry, but the runs continued to come for Kooweerup. Chris Bright eventually was out for 55, but Matt Davey (33 n.o.) and Matt Bright (28) kept scoring. At the close of play Kooweerup was all out for 280 in 78 overs.
Officer played host to Catani in an important game for both clubs. Catani slumped to be all out for just 85 runs in 48.4 overs.
Brad McDonald (18) and Ben Ferrari-Mela (16) were the only batsmen to post significant totals, as Drew Tucker (2/7 from eight), Kable Dowsett (2/22 from nine), Brett Reid (2/19 from seven) and Adam Reid (2/11 from eight) tore the batting apart.
In reply, Officer was looking shaky at 6/58, with Shane White (29 n.o.) looking to steer his side to victory.
Matt Thompson and Luke McFarlane both bowled well for Catani, taking three wickets each.
Tooradin took on Pakenham Upper/Toomuc at Tooradin Rec Reserve, and was all out for just 138 runs.
No details were entered for Tooradin but Jack Ryan (3/46 from 18), Chris Smith (3/46 from 12) and Luke Gunton (2/16 from seven) did the damage.
With 34 overs to bat, Chris Smith took the game by the scruff of the neck, and was 61 not out as PUT reached 3/88 at the close of the first day’s play.