Cricket Southern Bayside: McKinnon secures finals berth in Division 1

Star all-rounder Wade King turned in another elite display as McKinnon secured a finals berth in Cricket Southern Bayside Division 1.

McKinnon players celebrate a wicket on Saturday. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Wade King is having some season.

The McKinnon maestro smacked 62 off 59 deliveries and took 3-9 off 6.5 overs to help his side to a thumping 98-run win over Brighton District in CSB Division 1 on Saturday.

With two rounds to go, McKinnon — in second spot on 36 points — is assured of finals action.

Rarely does a game go by without King firing; he leads the Division 1 wicket tally with 28 scalps, at 8.39 apiece, and has also racked up 376 runs, at 53.71.

On Saturday, McKinnon posted 7-203, with Reece Taylor (22), Jack O’Shea (21) and Lee Weiss (44) laying the foundations.

King lifted the tempo, cracking a six and four boundaries, to notch his third half century in the past month.

Tiron Fernando bowling for McKinnon. Picture: Valeriu Campan

McKinnon’s strong bowling attack, which is arguably the best in the comp, then flexed its muscles to roll Brighton District for 105.

Openers Tiron Fernando (3-33) and Ben Porter (2-11) made early strikes before Jarryd Cox (1-22) and King chimed in.

Three McKinnon bowlers feature in the Division 1 top 10 wicket tally — King (28 wickets), Brian Kulasena (18) and Porter (13).

Wade King is having another dominant season. Picture: Chris Eastman

St Brigid’s/St Louis continued its late bid for finals with a stunning eight-wicket win over Parkdale.

The Saints rolled Parkdale for 63 as James Barker (3-17), Angus Macquire (3-8) and Liam Harris (3-15) bowled with venom.

In reply, St Brigid’s/St Louis polished off the target in only nine overs, smacking 2-64, with last week’s century maker Trae Love-Linay unbeaten on 19.

Former Dandenong batsman Comrey Edgeworth made 84 not out to set up Mentone’s big win over Parkdale United.

Edgeworth and skipper skipper Dane Heverin (40) had an 88-run third wicket partnership as the Tigers posted 7-181 and then skittled Parkdale United for 73 as Darcy Brown (5-17) collected his first five wicket haul for Mentone.

Corey Booth and Calvin Barlow batted brilliantly to lead Dingley to a thumping win over Clayton District by nine wickets.

Barlow took 3-31 with the ball to help restrict Clayton to 8-160, despite the efforts of Ash Plozza (49no) and Kevin Harris (40).

In reply, the Dingoes (1-164) coasted to victory in 23.1 overs as Booth (53no) and Barlow (76no) put on a 139-run unbroken stand.

Ben Porter bowling for McKinnon. Picture: Valeriu Campan

In Championship Division, Alex Ross blitzed his maiden senior century for Murrumbeena — a brilliant 122 not out off 126 balls — in its crucial 88-run win over Mordialloc.

The former Camberwell Magpies batsman smashed 4 sixes and 9 fours to propel the Beena to 5-213 after they were 2-2.

He combined with Daniel Parkinson (43no) for an unbroken 146-run sixth wicket partnership.

Mordialloc, in reply, slumped to 4-28 and never recovered, dismissed for 125 as Nuwan Karunarathne grabbed 4-20 off 8 overs.

Murrumbeena gloveman Xavier Ross had an oustanding game behind the stumps, snaffling five catches and a run out.

The win lifted Murrumbeena into fourth spot, ahead of Mordialloc.

Bonbeach’s Tim Mulholland took 2-21. Picture: Valeriu Campan

A blazing half-century by Bonbeach skipper Tom Smith set up the Sharks’ win over Carnegie.

Smith belted 51 off 27 balls, with 3 sixes and 5 fours, while opening partner Sean Gales played the anchor role with 54 off 118 balls in a score of 8-210.

Akila Lakshan (21), David Fernandez (25) and Harley Dale (17no) were also in the runs.

Bonbeach opening bowler Jack Plom then grabbed 3-19, including the key wicket of Carnegie opener Ashish Harsolia for 58, to help dismiss the Neggie for 162.

Bonbeach is in second spot, only four points behind South Caulfield, which lost to Hampton in a thriller.

Hampton made it four wins on the spin after producing a superb batting display to chase down South Caulfield’s 5-197, replying with 5-201 in 38.3 overs.

Opener Jarrod Munday (59 retired not out), No.3 Jarrod Hewitt (60 off 69 balls) and Oliver Tate, with a dynamic cameo of 39no off 22 balls, fuelled the rousing run chase.

The Seahorses, sixth, are still in the finals hunt; they are five points behind fourth spot with two games to go.

Third-placed Bentleigh scored a clinical win over Beaumaris, with opener Shane Jeffree crunching 60 off 56 balls as the Demons won with seven wickets and 10 overs to spare.

In other CSB highlights, Oliver Martucci took 5-11 for Bentleigh’s one-day Division 2 side in Sunday.

And Mordialloc legend Aaron Martello took what is possibly his best-ever bowling figures of 5-23 in the Bloodhounds’ Division 3 game. He was bowling seam and says he can’t remember ever taking a bag of five in his 45-year cricket career.