By Jonty Ralphsmith
A GRADE
Tooradin will face Cranbourne Meadows in the A Grade grand final this weekend after winning their way through their respective semis in contrasting fashions.
Tooradin dug deep to beat Kooweerup by two wickets while Cranbourne Meadows put a huge first innings score on the board which 84 runs too many for Cardinia.
At Carlisle Park, Kooweerup chose to bat first but none of the top five could go on with their starts.
After a 40-run opening partnership between John Bright and Cody Miller, the Demons lost wickets at regular intervals.
Bailey Lownds did the early damage before Kallan Braid-Bell nabbed four wickets in his closing spell to limit any resistance.
Fittingly, it was that pair at the crease as the Seagulls passed the total 66 overs into its innings.
The Gulls slumped to 3/40 which heightened the intrigue, but Lownds’ positive unbeaten 72 was a key difference in the game.
Meanwhile, Cranbourne Meadows opener Sanjeev Dhankar’s 63 led his team to 253.
Tanvir Singh and Jaskaran Singh both contributed with cameos, Cardinia briefly getting itself back in the contest by reducing them to 6/158 before conceding late-orde runs.
Four wickets each to Ranjeev Dhankar and Kanwaljit Handa ensured their team was always ahead in the bowling innings despite Tyson Browne’s half-century.
B GRADE
The two clear best sides all season will face off in the B-Grade grand final after Officer and Tooradin both had convincing wins in their semi finals on the weekend.
Seven of Officer’s eight wickets claimed scalps as the Bullants rolled Emerald for 125, with openers Wayne Duke and Lachlan Porter both passing 50 and spending valuable time in the middle during a straight forward chase.
At Rutter Park, only two Pakenham players reached double digits as Owen Johnstone, Connor O’Riordan and Luke Townsend took three wickets each.
Pakenham was skittled for 69 with Tooradin winning by six wickets.
C GRADE
Merinda Park’s Adam Newstead has taken six wickets to lead Merinda Park into the C-Grade grand final.
The Cobras defended a relatively modest 144 thanks to the accuracy of Newstead, who bowled 18.4 overs unchanged, finishing with figures of 6/30 as Pakenham Upper Toomuc was bowled out for 51.
Newstead took the first three wickets of the game, two wickets through the middle and fittingly wrapped it up in a game where he was the difference.
They will face Officer, which put 256 on the board against Lang Lang, led by the half-centuries to the in-form Darren Kneebone and Gareth McKinnon.
Kneebone’s 56 is the fourth consecutive innings he has registered a half-century, a run which includes a 198, while it was back-to-back half-centuries for McKinnon.
Cody Mackay and Robert Strang’s three wickets each led the way in the bowling innings.
D GRADE
A Leigh Smith century has led Merinda Park into the grand final, with Michael Coull’s 81 also playing a big role in setting up a monster 7/334 total for the Cobras.
Coull combined with Chris Smith for a solid opening partnership, before he anchored Leigh Smith’s positive 117 off 125.
Brenton Huyskens was the standout bowler for Merinda Park, as Melbourne Sixers limped to 140 all out in response, showing little fight outside of a 66 to Malith Kanahara.
They will face Pakenham, whose skipper David Searle took 5/45 off 20 to bowl Officer out for 152, which Pakenham passed with five in the shed, led by an unbeaten 51 to Paul Kezik.
E GRADE
It will be a clash of first against second in the E-Grade grand final with Kerala Strikers set to take on Nar Nar Goon, after wins over Devon Meadows and Pakenham respectively.
Kerala gave 10 players a trundle in the victory, with six picking up wickets as Devon Meadows was bowled out for 146, before Josepth Chirayath Raphael scoring 48 off 37 in the comfortable six-wicket win.
Meanwhile, a collective bowling effort from the Marygoons compensated for a disappointing display with the bat.
Mansoor Ahmed (4/25 off 14) and Jarratt Eastburn (3/17 off 20) led the way as Pakenham was bowled out for 58 inside 44 overs chasing 125 for victory.
