BERWICK turfone’s Dave Hampton set a fine captain’s example with a blazing 108 to rescue his side after an early batting collapse against Keysborough on Saturday.
Berwick relished the opportunity to bat in ideal conditions at Arch Brown Reserve after winning the toss.
However it made a shaky start, with the top three being dismissed cheaply and signs weren’t good with the score 3/19.
Wayne Staniforth, played around a full delivery and was out for 13, making it 4/49.
Dave Hampton needed to play a captain’s knock and that’s exactly what he did, pairing with Gavin Wills to add 63 for the fifth wicket before Wills went for 21.
Rowan Nancarrow returned from injury and played a solid role with the skipper as they went about building a strong total.
Nancarrow looked set to demolish the bowling, but failed to go on with his score of 27 and when Berwick lost two quick wickets it was 7/181 with 10 overs remaining.
Simon Cornell then paired with Hampton to punish Keysborough in the final overs.
Hampton showed the experience that comes with years of cricket at a higher level to complete a fine maiden century for his new club.
Cornell was merciless and crunched four fours and one towering six in what could be a gamewinning knock of 36 off 27 balls to help Berwick to 241.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:TURF TWO
It was another tough day for Berwick that continues to struggle against top sides such as Coomoora.
The top order crumbled under intense pressure the first five wickets falling for 20 runs.
Brendan Lloyd was the sole survivor at the top, hanging around for 13 before becoming the sixth victim with the Bears in trouble at 6/33.
Matt Crosby and Marty McGauran did their best to add to the sadlooking score, but couldn’t go on, falling for 12 and 17 respectively.
Shaun Gramc and Darren Shepherd offered some resistance, adding 25 for the ninth wicket to give Berwick something to bowl at, Gramc out for 14 and Shepherd showing his usual aggression with 22.
Berwick was all out for 100 and made a great start with the ball when Paul Gramc claimed the opening batsmen to make it 1/5.
It was to prove very difficult from here on, the bowlers doing everything to take wickets, while keeping runs to a minimum, eventually grabbing six by the close of play, 146 on the board.
Paul Gramc bowled with venom and his brother Shaun got two wickets, while Brendan Lloyd also netted two and Darren Shepherd one.
Berwick will push hard this week to stay in the hunt of a secondinnings result.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:TURF FOUR
Berwick journeyed to Carrum to play St Brigid’s/St Louis and put in a solid performance with the ball.
Brett Davis bowled well for the excellent figures of 2/39 and Adam Baumgardner pushed them through at pace during his eight overs, taking the first wicket to get the Bears going at 1/22.
Simon Curtis took a sensational catch at gully and Lee Harris grabbed three wickets for just eight runs in a devastating spell that took the score from 4/70 to 7/79 to put Berwick in full control of the game.
Fourteenyearold leg spinner Michael Wallace played his first game on turf and put together 10 composed overs without luck for 0/33.
Shaun Haberfield took two wickets from just three overs to wrap up the tail and the innings.
Berwick kept the score under 150 and is 1/23, with Luke Reddie and Wayne Margitich the notout batsmen on 10 and 11 respectively.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:B GRADE
It was a battle for Berwick, two down due to late withdrawals and then loosing fast bowler Ian Davis in the early stages, making life tough against Buckley Ridges on the small Noble Park Secondary College oval.
Adam Muirhead returned after some time playing at Tathra, bowling well without luck early on.
Davis pulled a calf muscle, leaving the majority of the work up to the young spin brigade of Michael Dalzotto, Trevor McGeachin and Adam Kruger. The three bowled 47 overs between them, but were fighting an uphill battle with too little coverage in the field.
McGeachin displayed his full range and pulled off an outstanding caughtandbowled to get the first wicket with 119 on the board.
Dalzotto toiled hard and eventually claimed the opening batsman, while Kruger made a tight start before getting a little more wayward and was unable to get the vitals wickets.
Berwick conceded 368 runs with its work cut out this week.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:C GRADE
Berwick knocked up a competitive 220 against Sandown Park with Andy Young and Craig Bellville starting things early with 15 and 12 respectively.
Matt O’Donoghue went for 19 and after loosing a couple of quick wickets, the Bears were looking shaky on 4/52.
Chris Murphy played the support role in a 34run partnership with Tom Van Rijn who went on to compile a handy 28 that helped his side get through the difficult middle stages.
Ray Henry, after a slow start, finished not out on 56. He added some valuable runs with Ryan Smart (48) after Berwick slumped to 8/129, as the pair helped the Bears to 220 after their full allotment of 72 overs.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:D GRADE
The Bears only managed 146 against St Marys, although this is defendable on the lush outfield of Edwin Flack Reserve.
Geoff Willcock was run out for 13 and Will Chapman, 30, while Andrew Thorpe top scored with 31 and Dave Dalzotto helped out in the lower order with 28.
Berwick swung the game its way with three wickets in the 19 overs that remained, a tremendous effort by Steve Carle, the destroyer who got all three.
Rob Borlase bowled well from the other end and the game is in the hand of the home side when play closed at 320.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:E GRADE
It was an exciting start for the new seventh XI against Dandenong West, the first time the club has fielded this many teams.
However it was tough going for Berwick that was bundled out for 90 with Dave Ramsey carrying his bat for most of the innings to remain not out with a top score of 31.
Jim Koulus managed 11 and extras helped the score considerably.
The game is set up for an outright result, with Berwick capturing five wickets for 95 runs, Koulus taking two wickets and Rod Pettitt three.
