CSB: Mentone misses finals after dramatic tie with Bonbeach

A dramatic tie on Duckworth Lewis has cost Mentone a spot in the Cricket Southern Bayside Championship division finals. Here’s how it unfolded.

Mentone batter Comrey Edgeworth top scored with 60. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The calculator crunched the numbers, but it all added up to heartbreak for Mentone on Saturday afternoon.

The scores on MyCricket had the Tigers (6-156) shading ladder leaders Bonbeach (148) in the final round of CSB Championship division.

On the surface, it looked like Mentone had snatched a finals berth. But it wasn’t to be.

A 45-minute rain delay in Bonbeach’s innings saw Mentone’s score reduced to 148 under the Duckworth Lewis system, with Bonbeach requiring 149 to win.

It went down to the last over. Bonbeach, nine wickets down, scored a single to tie the scores at 148 with two balls to go. Next ball Mentone took the final wicket, but the Tigers knew their finals hopes were shot.

“We knew,” Mentone captain Dane Heverin said.

“We knew a tie was no good for us. When they got the run to level the scores we knew we were done. When we took the last wicket we definitely weren’t celebrating. We were all pretty flat.”

Mentone batter Edward McGarry. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Bonbeach’s Tim Mulholland. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Mentone finished in fifth spot, two points behind fourth-placed Bentleigh.

Heverin said there was confusion among Mentone supporters on Saturday night, with many thinking their side had got into the final four..

“That’s the thing, MyCricket doesn’t say the Duckworth Lewis on it, so that was one of the hardest parts, we got so many messages saying ‘well done’ and you just have to go, ‘ah, well, we missed out, it was a tie’,” Heverin said.

Mentone gun Comrey Edgworth top scored with 60 on a rain affected pitch that Heverin said was tough to bat on.

In reply, Bonbeach skipper Tom Smith smashed 40-odd to give the Sharks momentum.

“But really it was a great game of cricket, it was so close,” Heverin said.

“The momentum in both innings ebbed and flowed for both teams and we just couldn’t quite get it done.”

Mentone batter William Peake. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Heverin said missing finals was a bitter pill to swallow.

“The second half of the season we’ve played such good cricket, got on a roll...we finally got our group together for six or seven games in a row after Christmas,” he said.

“If we had have got there we would have beaten everyone in the finals to get there. If we had have got in we certainly knew we were up to it…but not to be.”

It was a big day for Mentone Cricket Club, with the great Peter Duffy becoming just the fourth player in the club’s history to reach 400 games.

He has achieved just about all that there is to achieve — 5x premiership player, 1st XI captain, club president, 500+ wickets, 4000+ runs.

Duffy is known as “Mr Mentone”.

“Plenty of past players he played cricket with came down and enjoyed a drink with him on Saturday night,” Heverin said.

South Caulfield and Beaumaris had a washout draw, and will meet again in a semi-final.

South batted first and put up 9-209, with Josh O’Donnell making 55, Will Russell 54 and Callum Nankervis 33.

In reply Beaumaris was 0-15 off 4.2 overs when rain halted play.

A stinging batting collapse saw Mordialloc lose to bottom side Murrumbeena.

The Bloodhounds batted first and crashed to 8-48 before being dismissed for 69 as Jack Anstee (4-22), Troy Ryan (2-19), Manjula Guruge (2-13) and Tej Gandhi (2-3) ran hot.

In reply, Murrumbeena coasted to 2-72, achieving victory in the 15th over, with Cooper Anstee unbeaten on 22.

Hampton upset finals-bound Bentleigh, with Will Bowden blasting 71 off 68 balls (9 fours, 1 six) at the top of the list for the Seahorses. Chris Ellison (4-27) and Oliver Hamilton (3-29) completed the job with the ball.

In Division 1, Brighton District grabbed a finals berth with a gripping eight-run win over South Caulfield. Skipper Jason Oldfield (52) and Tom Williamson (4-31) led the way.

Andrew Loffel (66) and Jeremy Heys (54) blasted St Brigid’s/St Louis to 230 in its win over McKinnon.