THE grand finals of the Diamond Valley Cricket Association more than delivered on its promise of electrifying, close cricket throughout the weekend.
Mernda had the opportunity to play off for a premiership in E grade, while Whittlesea also had an opportunity in F1 grade. Both teams played off against Banyule on their home decks respectively.
At Waterview Reserve, Banyule batted first on Saturday afternoon.
Opening duo Rob Corrigan and Kyle Reece put pressure on the Banyule top order, and was handily rewarded early in the piece, with Reece claiming the wicket of Liam O’Connor for three, and Corrigan claiming Tom Braddy for nine and Steve Pinner for a duck, leaving Banyule in a precarious position at 3/26.
However, the Bears had a strategy to get their way back into the game, and it was good middle order batting which was the order of the day.
Hayden McMurray made 34 and Paul McMurray 45 before David Taylor struck to remove the latter, while Reece had his second wicket when he caught Hayden off his own bowling.
But the Bears carried on, and Darcy Pinner made 30, while James McIntyre’s 23 and Oliver McGillion’s 41 also provided handy runs.
Eventually, Banyule would be all out for 205 late on Saturday.
Corrigan bowled strongly to claim 4/48 off 17.1 overs, while Taylor took 2/25 and Reece 2/37.
Come Sunday, the Demons knew what was required – 206 runs for a premiership.
However, it was not the start they wanted, with Rob Virtue bowled for eight, before Corrigan was caught out for four.
Darren Mercuri worked hard for his 28, while Andrew Edwards also played hard to make 43, but the pressure was well and truly on when both were dismissed to leave the Demons 4/109.
Bryce Campbell continued on to give the Demons a sniff of victory, making 36, but wickets were falling around him, with the Demons struggling to 7/172.
When Campbell was run out, the Demons still needed another 23 runs to win, but they made another 11 runs before Banyule took the final two wickets.
The end result was that the Demons were a gutwrenching 12 runs short of victory, all out for 194.
In F1 grade, Whittlesea fought back admirably many times on Saturday to give itself a big chance of winning the premiership.
Banyule started strongly throughout the afternoon, with the top four all getting starts.
A brilliant piece of fielding from Nathan Heaney allowed the Eagles a pathway into the game, with Simon Adair ran out with the score on 41.
That brought the likes of Kevin Satharasinghege Don into the game, and he would also claim two wickets, coupled with a run out from Nawodya Vithanage, to ensure Whittlesea started to get on top with the score 5/84.
A 48-run partnership would cause some concern throughout the middle stages of the day, but Thomas Watt and Heaney had the final say by claiming two wickets apiece to bowl the Bears out for 161.
Watt took 2/5, while Heaney’s 2/20 and Don’s 2/43 was also crucial.
Come Sunday, and it was Tharindu Harith Withana and Mohamed Isam Rafeek who helped Whittlesea get off to a good start, making 41 before the first wicket fell.
For a time, it looked as though Whittlesea would have a big wobble, losing 4/15 to sit at 4/56, which included the big wicket of Lathindu Kandage for three.
However, it was Susipsara Dehigaspitiya who played the crucial hand when it mattered the most.
Dehigaspitiya made a classy 70 off 102 deliveries to guide the Eagles, and despite cruelly not being able to be there for the winning runs with just three to get, his job was critical to the Eagles’ premiership push.
Watt hit the winning runs, a four, just two balls later to ensure the Eagles would take out the premiership, and spark scenes of jubilation at AF Walker Reserve.