THE Diamond Valley Cricket Association has reached the final third of the season, with plenty of big moves for the top four evidently still to be made.
A memorable century to Stuart Wright was pivotal in allowing Mernda to take a big step towards earning a finals berth in Money Shield in its first year back in the competition, taking a comfortable eight-wicket win over Plenty.
The Demons were on top all afternoon at Waterview Recreation Reserve, but Wright’s 103 off 105 deliveries well and truly gave them the upper hand, and in combination with Callum Dean’s unbeaten 48, the Dees had a 136-run third wicket stand broken only by the end of play.
The result still leaves the Demons in fourth but have a game and a half in hand over fifth-placed Research Eltham in the run in towards finals.
In Money Shield, Laurimar’s hunt for a finals berth took a big blow as it fell just 19 runs short of victory over bottom team Old Ivanhoe Grammarians at Laurimar Town Park.
Chasing 260 to win, the Power was in a reasonable spot at 3/144, with Luke Richardson scoring 63 and Noah Key 33.
Rian Boddy put in his best knock of the season, scoring 59, but it wasn’t quite enough for the Power, who lost their final four wickets for 38 runs, all out for 241.
South Morang, similarly, now face an uphill battle to make the finals after losing by six wickets to Rivergum at Kelynack Recreation Reserve.
The Lions simply did not have an answer to the ladder leaders’ strong middle order and chased down the target of 179.
Terry Liddicutt took 2/19 off eight overs, while Darcy Kay took 2/59 off 15 overs.
Whittlesea’s first XI took a thrilling victory in a high-scoring encounter at Meadowglen Reserve by one wicket.
Utilising the smaller expanses of the ground, Rivergum started well to be 1/138 at one stage, but good bowling from Tharindu Harith Withana was critical to getting the Eagles back into the game.
Withana finished with 4/28 off seven overs as Rivergum made 7/239.
With the bat, there was a little bit of a wobble early in the innings as the Eagles fell to 3/78, but an 83-run partnership between Susipsara Dehighspitiya and Lathindu Kandage got the Eagles back on track.
After scoring 103 in the opening round, Kandage scored a further 81, while Nowodya Vithanage and Mohamed Isam Rafeek got the Eagles home with a crucial 17-run final wicket partnership to score a thrilling win.
Elsewhere around the competition, Mernda’s B grade team took a memorable seven-wicket win over Plenty off the back of Lucas Long’s unbeaten 150, which included 15 fours and five sixes, helping the Demons score 3/246 in response to the Power’s 7/245.
South Morang’s C grade team had a tough loss to Bundoora by three wickets.
Despite having the Bulls 4/26, the Lions had no answer to Andrew Fairchild’s 99, helping the Bulls to 7/204 in response to the Lions’ 201.
Joel Isherwood could hold his head high with 5/31 off 17 overs.
Despite David Sinclair’s 113 off 109 deliveries, Laurimar was no match for Panton Hill in D grade, losing by 150 runs, all out for 255.
South Morang was unable to make inroads in its E grade game against Riverside, losing by 99 runs. Brodie Slater’s 29 and Joe Lovalvo’s 26 were the two highest scores for the afternoon.
Dan Demiris’ 63 helped guide Laurimar to a 67-run win in a low-scoring game against Greensborough.
Demiris handled the conditions the best to help Laurimar score 9/146 off its 35 overs, before Veera Raghava Reddy Maddireddy’s 4/13 and Cian Merrett’s 3/28 helped bowl the Boro out for 79.
Mernda’s F2 grade middle order helped itself to some good runs in its 25-run win over Lower Plenty.
Rob Virtue scored 59 and Saurin Sandeep Sharma 56, while Geordi Summers provided big hitting at the end with an unbeaten 39 off just 23 balls to get Mernda to 5/210, before doing enough to hold Lower Plenty to 4/185 in response. Tejus Pathak was the best of the bowlers, taking 2/42.
Laurimar’s G1 West team took a convincing five-wicket win over Heidelberg Yellow.
Damian Meyer’s 3/6 and Corey Peters’ 3/25 helped the Power restrict Heidelberg to 135, before Michael Peters’ 53 and Tyson Aldenhoven’s 32 ensured they would take the points, scoring 5/138.
Despite some good top order scores, Mernda was no match for Heidelberg Black.
Youngster Chase Kinash scored 50, Trevor Marnell 44 and Christopher Scully 40 in the Demons’ 6/187, but Heidelberg was dominant with the bat, responding with 1/188.
South Morang was unsuccessful in its chase against North Eltham Wanderers, falling short by two runs.
This was despite the best efforts of Hayden Muscat, who scored 53, and Paul Philp, who scored 43, but the Lions’ 7/188 was not quite enough.
Laurimar was no match for Bundoora, losing by seven wickets, with Mark O’Sullivan top scoring with 25 runs.
In G3 grade, Troy Slater’s 39 and Nick Perry’s 38 was enough to help South Morang take a two-wicket win over Hurstbridge, while Jaskirat Singh took 3/11 and Mirza Baig 2/11.
Big late hitting from Gavin Butler, who scored 47, helped Whittlesea take a 41-run win over Rivergum.
The win was sealed by Chandika Hemachandra, who led from the front to take 3/24 to restrict Rivergum to 141.
Jarred Mitchell’s 3/4, Vivek Mahajan’s 3/14 and Aarjav Guha’s 50 helped Mernda take a comfortable six-wicket victory over Diamond Creek, scoring 4/169 in response to Diamond Creek’s 168.
The women’s Sunday competition has returned for the summer.
South Morang Blue utilised a monster innings from Emma Leatham to score a 41-run win over Epping in division one.
Leatham scored 89 off 83 deliveries to help the Lions score 5/157, before holding Epping to 4/116 in response.
Laurimar Black was successful in division two, with Kyra Rule scoring 51 and Poshika Joon 44 to help it score 6/154, before holding Fairfield to 5/137, with Phoebe McKenna taking 2/13.
In division four, South Morang Maroon was no match for Rivergum, losing 6/100 to 0/116, with no stats available at the time of production.
Laurimar Teal lost by five wickets to Macleod/Heidelberg, with Toni Rule scoring 24, and Shannon Wells taking 2/4 as Laurimar tried valiantly to defend 5/88.
