RAIN left many Diamond Valley Cricket Association cricketers frustrated throughout the weekend, although every team in the Whittlesea region did wind up claiming one win in the end.
Mernda had a frustrating two-dayer against Montmorency, looking good with the bat before rain intervened.
In particular, it was Alex Mitris and Stuart Wright batting incredibly well, with Mitris anchoring the top of the order with 59 runs, while Wright was flying towards a century, scoring 79 runs before rain stopped play, not just for day one, but also for the following day on Sunday.
Laurimar had its struggles against Thomastown United, bowled out for 139 before rain completely stopped play.
Patrick Richardson’s late runs saved the Power, who were 7/89 at one point. Richardson top scored with 39, while Rian Boddy was the only other batsman to make 20.
South Morang was left frustrated in its attempt to chase down Keon Park’s 117.
Theiveekan Theivanesan was the hero with the ball for the Lions, taking an incredible 6/19 off 13 overs, which included six maidens, but the Lions could only bat four overs before the weather cruelled their run chase.
Around the grounds, Laurimar made a strong total of 5/215 in its D grade game, with David Sinclair aggressive in making 76 runs, before its game with Diamond Creek was abandoned.
The Power’s F1 grade had struggles before rain saved the day, with the Power only managing 83 runs from 23.4 overs chasing Macleod’s 6/195.
Ben Demicoli scored 28, while Dan Demiris added 27.
The Power’s G1 West team won via forfeit, while the G2 team lost via forfeit to South Morang.
The Lions’ C grade team scored 6/227 at Mill Park Lakes, with Rohin Sidhu scoring 63 and Paul Martin 42, but the game was stopped with Lalor Stars 3/112 in response.
A fascinating E grade game for the Lions against Mernda was stopped, with the Lions 5/56 chasing Mernda’s 145.
Mernda was well served by Chris Smith, who batted well at the top of the order for 43. Six other Demons made double figures but could not go on with the job.
Harsh Shah top scored with the Lions with 27, while Joshua Passas made 20 not out before the rain stopped play. Jordan Krake took 2/18 off eight overs for the Dees.
The Lions lost their F2 grade game to Lower Plenty by 48 runs, 6/142 to 5/190, despite Junior Sachdev making a fine 58, but the Lions had a win, with the G2 game won via forfeit against Laurimar.
The G3 game against Riverside was stopped while the Lions was on top, 8/148 to 4/56 off 19 overs.
Mernda had four games abandoned, including B grade, the aforementioned E grade, F2 – where the Demons looked to be cruising on the back of Abhi Patel’s unbeaten 64 to help guide them to 2/92 in response to Riverside’s 8/157, and G1 West, where the Demons were 2/11 chasing Bundoora Park’s 171.
Mernda’s G3 team had a win, chasing down Panton Hill’s 8/153 to win by eight wickets.
Gurbinder Pannu took 3/21, while Cameron Meek and Jamie Knell took two wickets apiece, before Vivek Mahajan’s 46 and Burzin Irani’s 36 helped get the job done easily.
Whittlesea’s F1 team remains unbeaten, albeit after play was abandoned against Dennis, with the Eagles sitting at 1/6 chasing 5/183 at AF Walker Reserve.
The Eagles’ G3 team made light work of Greensborough, winning by eight wickets.
Gavin Butler took 3/12 off seven overs, while Dinesh Arachchige took 2/3 off three overs. Thomas Watt dominated with the bat, scoring 47 off 34 deliveries to chase down the target of 82 in 13.4 overs.
The top three grades, as well as B to E grade, will play this weekend, while F1 grade to G3 grade will have the weekend off for the Melbourne Cup public holiday.
In the North Metro women’s competition, South Morang Blue was too strong for Laurimar Black on Saturday morning, winning by 72 runs.
Kristy Carbis took over at the top of the order for South Morang, scoring an unbeaten 40, while Emma Leatham added 27 to help the Lions make 6/127.
Poshika Joon had a terrific individual performance for the Power, taking 4/21.
Victoria Mitchell provided much of the offensive firepower for the Power, scoring 19, but no other player could score above 10 as Laurimar finished on 8/55.
Abigail Martin and Carbis finished with two wickets apiece.
In division three, Laurimar Teal had a dominant win over Eltham.
The Power kept the bowling tight to restrict Eltham to 4/98 off its 20 overs, before some strong batting from Toni Rule (31) and Danielle Toull (38) helped get the Power to 102 without loss from 13.1 overs.
South Morang, remarkably, had a draw with Rivergum.
The Lions batted first, with Vrishti Mangrolia’s 23 off 25 helping the Lions get some late runs in making 3/107 off 20 overs.
Rivergum lost a constant stream of wickets throughout its innings, but Rebecca Camilleri made 43 to give the Burra a big chance.
However, the Lions bowled dot balls in the last two deliveries to salvage a draw, with the Burra scoring 7/107.
Four players took wickets for the Lions, with Jaslyn Kaur leading the way with 1/12.
The women’s competition will now have a week off for the Melbourne Cup public holiday.
