VSDCA 2018-19: Elsternwick jumps from 10th to finals, ending Ormond’s season

It was a dramatic final round of Sub-District cricket, with Elsternwick and Melton moving into the top six and Ormond and Hoppers Crossing falling out.

Elsternwick captain Cameron Christiansen knew it was going to be difficult for his team to jump into the top six in the final round of the VSDCA.

Indeed, last Friday he said it would take a “miracle’’ for Elsty, 10th on the ladder, to get in to the finals of the south-west section.

Everything went their way — and they made a miraculous move from 10th to sixth, in the process bumping out neighbour Ormond.

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It came down to a sliver of percentage, Elsternwick’s 1.052 shading the Monders’ .9739. The difference? A mere .0781.

It was a drama-filled final round.

Elsternwick defeated seventh-placed Yarraville; Ormond was thrashed by 11th-placed Altona; Hoppers Crossing, sixth, lost to minor premier Caulfield and, like the Monders, dropped out of the top six; and eighth-placed Melton climbed to fifth after nailing ninth-placed Brighton.

The wash-up? In Melton and Elsternwick, out Ormond and Hoppers Crossing.

Remarkably, Elsty — who last won a premiership 99 years ago — got in with a losing season record, six wins and seven losses.

Christiansen was at the heart of their victory, hitting 89 not out in a total of 6-205 and lifting his season aggregate to 555 at 46.3.

Altona’s David Kinsella square drives for four against Ormond.

In what was going to be his last match, veteran Brad O’Shea hit 41 and put on 76 for the third wicket with his skipper.

Christiansen, one of Sub-District cricket’s most consistent runmakers in the past decade, faced 117 deliveries and hit 2 sixes and 3 fours.

Callum Sinclair blitzed 30 off 21 balls near the end of the innings.

With former Premier star Matthew Harrison hitting 67, Yarraville gave it more than a nudge but in energy-draining heat Elsty’s bowlers restricted it to 9-191 to claim a 14-run victory.

Then came a wait on other results. They went in Elsty’s favour.

“It was always a possibility but obviously the other results had to go our way,’’ Christiansen said this morning.

“All of that was out of our control. We just had to worry about executing our plans and taking care of business from our end and we did that pretty well. The cards fell our way.’’

As for his own form, he said he was pleased to bat through.

“I’ve been hitting the ball reasonably well, but probably haven’t got the bigger scores at times,’’ he said.

“It was good yesterday to take it really deep into the innings, because I reckon I’ve left a few runs out there in the last 10 or 15 overs in most games.’’

Ormond skipper and spinner James Wild throws one up.

At EE Gunn Reserve, Ormond was left to curse a lack of runs that ended its season.

The Monders crashed from 1-47 to 6-81, but rallied to 170 through Gihan Perera’s fighting 41, 29 from Grant Chessari and 22 from Nick Oaten.

But the A’s played the role of spoiler, overhauling their target only three wickets down in 41.5 overs, in the process messing with Ormond’s percentage.

Opener David Kinsella hit 71 and Greg Sheehan 47 not out as the Monders opened a door for other teams — and watched Elsternwick barge through.

“We only won six games for the year. We don’t deserve to be playing finals,’’ Ormond captain James Wild said this morning.

“Very disappointing day for us. Nothing went really well for us, apart from Gihan and the lower-order.

“We had a few close LBWs against Kinsella and Sheehan when they first went in. If they’d been given we could have gone through them. Who knows. But we needed to get over 200.

“We had too many soft outs. Not good. Inconsistency was the story of our season. Our good was very good, our bad was unbelievably bad.’’

Wild said the top four — Caulfield, Werribee, Oakleigh and Williamstown — would fight out the premiership. He said the other teams were “just making up the numbers’’.

Elsternwick will meet premiership favourite Caulfield in a quarter-final at Caulfield Park this weekend, the Fielders completing a 12 wins-one loss home-and-away season by trouncing Hoppers.

Left-handers Sam Anthony (86) and Graeme Rummans (79) made hefty contributions to Caulfield’s 8-214, adding 135 for the third wicket, and Liam Campbell grabbed 5-9 as Hoppers crashed to be all out for 101 and fell out of the top six.

Christiansen said his team would take a nothing-to-lose approach to the match.

“We’ve got in with a losing record, which is pretty unheard of. Normally you need seven-and — a-half, eight wins to get in,’’ he said.

“We’ve been really good in the short format, but not so great in the long format.

“But we’re a really young side. We’ve got three guys over the age of 25. It’s exciting for all of those guys to play Caulfield in a final. We’ve got nothing to lose. We’ll go in and enjoy it.’’

Christiansen said he was unsure if star paceman Andrew McGorian (illness) would return this weekend.

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