By ADEM SARICAOGLU
MELTON Centrals and WLSC Marshalls will contest the Williamstown and District Cricket Association’s A-Grade Matting grand final after scoring semi-final wins over Point Cook and Wyndhamvale respectively on Sunday.
Centrals’ 9/336 from day one on Saturday proved far too insurmountable for Point Cook at Blackwood Reserve, who in response could only muster 138 in 51.5 overs.
Half-centuries for Melton Centrals batsmen Jason Marks (63), Jack Doyle (63) and Michael Bairstow (61) on Saturday helped set up the win, while on Sunday, Marks stamped himself as man of the match with a five-wicket haul.
Meanwhile, the Truganina-based Marshalls were brutal in their demolition of Wyndhamvale, coming away from Arndell Park with a whopping 279-run win.
Himanshu Topal’s unbeaten 101 helped set the tone for the Marshalls on Saturday, while a pair of 76s from Pranav Sood and Gagan Sethi also proved handy in the mammoth opening dig.
Only Stephen Williams could muster a score beyond 20 with 21 runs for Wyndhamvale, while opener Scott Bomford was the only other man to reach double figures, scoring 16 before getting trapped on the pads.
In the WDCA’s A Turf competition, Grand United has advanced to the grand final after successfully chasing down Bellbridge’s all-out 141 on Sunday.
Grand United chose to send Bellbridge in to bat on the road at Mossfield Reserve and it proved to be a good decision 50 overs into the clash on Saturday.
Matthew Frew was excellent with the ball in his nine overs for Grand United, claiming four wickets for just 15 as team-mates Luke Fox (2/35), Josh MacDonald (1/12) and Laurence Browes (1/23) all chimed in with cameos of their own.
The run chase lasted 75 overs, but Grand United had control of it throughout, only losing five wickets on its way to 142.
Captain Glenn Sullivan top-scored with an unbeaten 34 and Jeremy Preston was just as good to finish carrying his bat on 31.
