DDCA 2024/25: Narre South’s Jeevan Mendis laments batting woes as four teams fight Turf 1 relegation

Narre South captain-coach Jeevan Mendis has thrown down the gauntlet to his batsmen as a four-way DDCA Turf 1 relegation dogfight looms.

Narre South captain-coach Jeevan Mendis. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Narre South captain-coach Jeevan Mendis has thrown down the gauntlet to his batsmen as they fight for their place in DDCA Turf 1 next season.

The competition’s relegation battle is as fierce as ever with two rounds to play, as four teams which are all equal on points stare down the dreaded drop.

Mendis, who played 80 white ball internationals for Sri Lanka and is a Wookey Medal winner, lamented his side’s lack of consistency with bat in hand this season as the root of their struggles.

“The batsmen are not consistent,” Mendis said, adding that it had been an issue across the past three years.

“Definitely it’s been consistency with the batsmen the last three years, if you see only Kyle (Hardy) and myself have got runs, Vineth (Jayasuriya) got 100 last game.

“Last three years batsmen are not even getting individual 50 runs, they have not scored 50 runs.

“Still we are lacking partnerships, wickets are falling quickly; three, four wickets in a row, it’s very hard.”

Narre South’s Zac Wilson. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The Lions are set to play host to Dandenong West in a crucial two-day fixture at Strathaird Reserve on Saturday.

Victory would almost guarantee a place in Turf 1 next season, as at the very least it would leave them a game ahead of Dandenong West with a superior net run rate heading into the final round.

“It’s good that we are playing at home, it’s all about doing the basics, it’s not easy to bat on,” Mendis said.

“As a bowling unit, if we bowl well, we need to keep them under a very low score. If we bat we need to get about 180 to 200 runs on this wicket.

“Batting will be very key.”

After a resounding win over North Dandenong last round to snap a six-game losing streak, Beaconsfield face the tough task of travelling to Arch Brown Reserve and toppling local rivals Berwick to inch towards safety.

While North Dandenong, who are dwindling in eighth with the worst net run rate of the bottom four sides, must produce an upset against Buckley Ridges or Hallam Kalora Park in the final two rounds if they are to avoid the drop.

Mendis said his Narre South side - who last year came close to toppling eventual premiers Buckley Ridges in the preliminary final - must remain focussed on the task at hand.

“I was saying don’t think about the long process, just think about the little things you can do, one over and one ball at a time, don’t worry about the bigger picture now,” Mendis said.

“Batting, just spend little time, get five runs, 10 runs, little goals I have given them, so let’s see how it goes.”