By Ian Ferguson
KILCUNDABASS assured itself of a Bgrade finals’ berth after winning an exciting game at Tooradin by four runs.
The Seagulls’ victory swoop just fell short when it was dismissed for 226 and it was useful runs from Matt Walker (39), Andrew Sparkes (37) and Ben Mantel (28) that kept the home side competitive.
The Sharks’ attack was capably led by Paul Matthews (4/72 from 17 overs) and Paul Cornelius (4/76 off 23 overs).
An excellent allround performance from Emerald’s Tim Sproule effectively thwarted Nyora’s outright hopes.
After claiming four wickets last week, Sproule scored an outstanding 110 in the Bombers’ total of 235, while James Litterbach contributed 60.
The visitor’s best bowler was Nathan Osler who snared 4/31 off 13 overs and Nyora was hard pressed to clinch this game by 14 runs.
Nar Nar GoonMaryknoll defended its reasonable total of 194 efficiently, dismissing PUT for 121.
Brendan McGrath (4/32 from 16 overs), Dave Harvie (3/25 from 14 overs) and Wade Crawford (2/14 off eight overs) all bowled capably, while skipper Matthew Lownds was superb behind the stumps, taking four catches and two stumpings.
Beaconsfield accounted for Cardinia by 70 runs after scoring 7/303.
J. Williams top scored for the Tigers with 62, Steve Glen added an undefeated 58 and captain Matt Ravenhall reached 37. Young Bulls bowler Ryan Kitchin performed well taking 5/78 in the day’s play.
The final game between Cranbourne Meadows and Merinda Park at Cranbourne saw the visitors triumph by 23 runs in a solid runchase.
The Meadows made a competitive 190 the previous week, but was not able to stop the runflow, despite a superb oneman effort from bowler S. White who took all seven of the Cobras wickets that fell.
Merinda Park was steered to its fourth victory of the season by the classy batting of J. Edwards (51), G. Bloomer (34) and R. Morrison (30).
White ended the match with great figures of 7/72 from 29 overs.
C GRADE
Top team Lang Lang suffered a humiliating 114run defeat against Beaconsfield after being dismissed for 219 on Saturday.
Young allrounder Kurt Nestor was the Swamp Tigers’ star for the day scoring an excellent 103 notout, while Tiger veteran Mick McMahon snapped up six catches in an excellent and unexpected appearance behind the stumps.
Kooweerup won a highscoring encounter against Gembrook by 10 runs after the Brookers scored 8/286 on the day.
Andrew Hilder top scored with 61, while Anthony Williams and Dean Alcott reached 55 and 45 respectively. Kooweerup youngster Jack Carson, with figures of 3/26 from 12 overs, was the most destructive Demon bowler.
Pakenham scored 230 at Catani, but the Blues still won by 33 runs on the first innings.
Lion elder Mick Chilcott scored an undefeated 75 for the visitors, while Blues’ legend Tim Miller enjoyed a useful allround performance, scoring 33 and collecting 3/65 from 14 overs.
Nar Nar GoonMaryknoll gained a resounding 159run win against Devon Meadows that only totalled 149.
Travis Simpkin (4/25 from seven overs), Steve Pimm (4/48 off 13 overs) and Scott Musgrove (2/21 from eight overs) were the Goon’s wreckers.
D GRADE
Two teams gained valuable outright wins.
Nar Nar GoonMaryknoll took the maximum points against Cardinia that was removed for 118 in its second innings, which meant that the Goon only required five runs to clinch the outright result.
M. Hobson top scored for the Bulls with a defiant 57, while Marygoon veteran Col Hodson captured 3/13 for the winning team.
PUT collected maximum points against Cranbourne Meadows after declaring its innings closed on 8/228 and then routing the Rebels for 82 in their second dig.
Brett Maddocks enjoyed an exceptional allround match for the Yabbies, scoring 68 and collecting match bowling figures of 6/19, while Cranbourne Meadows bowler S. Sinclair performed well to take 4/38 from 12 overs.
KilcundaBass defeated Emerald by 53 runs, despite a fine batting performance from Bomber batsman Corey Sweeny who scored 60.
Scott Gilmartin and Rohan Duff each collected three wickets in the Shark’s bowling attack.
Merinda Park won at Tooradin after removing the host team for 211. John Proctor bowled with venom to capture 5/51 for the victors, while Gareth Andrews and Mitch Adderley both scored 30s for the Seagulls.
E GRADE
Emerald won the battle of the hills when it prevailed by seven runs in a nailbiting match against Gembrook.
Bomber veteran Chris Alenson guided the Emerald squadron to safety with his calm hand of 69 notout, while wickets were evenly shared in the Brookers’ attack.
Beaconsfield decisively defeated Officer by 132 runs, thanks to a timely innings of 72 from club veteran Russell Vincent.
Bullants’ youngster Tom Bulenok gained his best figures in senior cricket when he snared an excellent 6/59 from 17 overs.
James Howard scored a stylish 84 while Steve Brewster and Justin Mentiplay added halfcenturies, when Devon Meadows accounted for Merinda Park by 100 runs and Cardinia crushed the Lyndhurst Vikings by 102.
Bulls’ captain Chris Lemmon collected the excellent bowling figures of 6/48, the Vikings’ Craig Lee scored 34 and Peter McEwan and Craig Bell reached 53 and 37 respectively in the Bulls’ second innings tally of 3/118.
Ross Simpson and Brad Richmond captured respective matchwinning figures of 5/25 off 12.3 overs and 5/34 from 12 overs when Tooradin overwhelmed Kooweerup by 189 runs.
In the final 30 overs of the day the topoftheladder team belted 0/200 with Adrian Brown scoring a quickfire 106, while Shane Somers was also undefeated on 61.
F GRADE
Three Yabbies (John Fromhold, N. Black and J. Summers) and a Bomber (Gary Santini) all reached the retirement score of 50, while Merinda Park bowler Marcus Beaver captured the excellent bowling figures of 3/5 from four overs.
