DDCA 2024/25: Buckley Ridges prevail as Turf 1 champions after thrilling grand final against Hallam Kalora Park
Has a selection call ever been so vindicated? Buckley Ridges made it back-to-back DDCA Turf 1 premierships against Hallam Kalora Park after reaping the rewards of a bold punt.
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It was the perfect ending to a near-perfect season.
Ishan Jayarathna, undisputedly the top player of the DDCA Turf 1 season after he won the Wookey Medal by a resounding 13 votes, crunched the winning runs that would lift with Buckley Ridges to a premiership with a thumping six that clattered into the top of the commentary box at Arch Brown Reserve.
The steady hands of Jayarathna (45 not out off 51 balls) and Dale Tormey (41 not out off 63) had rescued Buckley’s run chase from the precarious position of 6-106, in response to Hallam Kalora Park’s 183, to deliver a four-wicket triumph and second successive Turf 1 premiership.
Buckley Ridges coach Manjula Munasinghe — a man so humble he chose to remain on the ground while supporters flooded the changerooms for a rousing rendition of the club song after the match — said he knew Jayarathna would win the match with a six once victory was within reach.
“I was telling them to try and catch the ball over there,” Munasinghe said jovially, pointing in the direction of where the six landed.
While it was a joyous ending, much of the match was a tense arm wrestle — although it began in an equally cheerful vein for Buckley Ridges.
Prav Chahal capitalised on a tricky batting wicket early to wreak havoc on Hallam Kalora Park’s top order, reducing the Hawks to 3-9 inside four overs.
After a lean spell that saw him take just one wicket in his past six Turf 1 outings, Chahal had found himself dropped to the twos, but was recalled for the decider on a match-up basis given the Hawks’ plethora of left-handed batsmen.
Chahal’s 15.4 overs included six maidens and he finished with a stunning haul of 5-19.
To say he relished the opportunity would be an understatement — and it was telling that all three of his early victims were left-handed bats.
“We took him to the game because they had lots of left-handers, we got him to play this game purely because so many left-handers, it’s a game plan which works well,” Munasinghe revealed.
Champion bat Mahela Udawatte struck a crucial 108-ball 69 for the Hawks, while 18-year-old Austin Fardell chipped in with 40 from 97 balls despite being under the weather.
Munasinghe was full of praise for his opponents post-game, who he said did a “fantastic job” with the bat in tough conditions.
“Bit of a wet wicket early Saturday, showing a really good tendency to make 180 runs, very good effort,” Munasinghe said.
The Hawks began their bowling innings in near-perfect fashion, suffocating the opening pair early before taking two wickets in quick succession to reduce Buckley to 2-5 early.
Top quick Will Whyte found Jayson Hobbs’ outside early, before Westley Nicholls was caught out by a Jordan Hammond short ball the next over.
Opener Jake Cronin (42 off 59) and Troy Aust (24 off 48) steadied the ship with a 62-run stand before Hallam clawed its way back into the contest.
At 6-106, an unlikely victory had turned ominous, but the class of Tormey and Jayarathna took the game away from the Hawks.
“The game was in the other side a lot, I told them to play their natural game, both are very good strikers of the balls, once you hit a few fours,” Munasinghe said.
“I know that how calm (Ishan) is, how hard he can play the game, he reads the game really well, when those two are in there I didn’t have any doubt.”
The victory marked Buckley Ridges’ 10th Turf 1 flag, further cementing its standing as one of the association’s greatest clubs.
This season delivered a resounding six premierships for Buckley across the board, including a clean sweep of its top three senior grades with the Turf 1 Reserves and Turf 4 outfits also achieving premiership glory.
Earlier: Ultimate Turf 1 grand final preview
Strap yourselves in.
If the qualifying final between Buckley Ridges and Hallam Kalora Park a fortnight ago was anything to go by, a run fest could await at Arch Brown Reserve in the DDCA’s Turf 1 decider this weekend.
The last time these sides met in the first week of finals, Buckley posted a whopping total of 5-414, with the Hawks only falling 19 runs short and losing the match despite scoring 395.
Hallam Kalora Park also posted 7-359 in the washed out preliminary final against Springvale South, and in the past two matches six of their top seven batsmen have posted a half century.
“Everyone’s chipping in and doing their bit,” said coach Matt Cox of his side’s batting.
“We’re not just relying on one or two guys which we were before. You’ve got to take six or seven wickets against us, not just three.”
“Our bowling’s always been good and our batting’s stepped up a bit this year, bringing in Damith Perera’s helped a lot.”
Between Perera and former Buckley Ridges gun Mahela Udawatte, the Hawks boast this season’s two leading run-scorers. Between them, the pair have struck over 1300 runs in Turf 1 alone and both have an average north of 50.
Buckley Ridges is out to add a second successive Turf 1 trophy to the cabinet, while the Hawks could make it two premierships in five seasons after their famous 2020/21 flag.
Cox said he hoped that with victory, his Hawks would externally be mentioned in the same breath as both Springvale South and Buckley Ridges.
“Everyone forgets that we did win it and we’re going for two in five years now as well,” Cox said.
“We’ve been around the mark with the other big clubs and hopefully if we get this one someone will actually talk about us.
“We’ve got the same sort of guys, we’ve got an ex-international as well, we’re headed in the right direction to take it one further again … if we do we have to be talked about like them teams.”
Buckley Ridges coach Manjula Munasinghe said he didn’t expect to see a repeat of the run fest that occurred a fortnight earlier.
“It’s all about how you manage it, when you get 400 runs our guys were in a little bit of a relaxed mood,” Munasinghe said.
“When you have 270 or 280 (runs), it’s not going to happen, we have bowled them out for 200 before, it’s not going to be a big issue.
“We have taken our pedal off a little bit on that day which has brought them up to that far.”
Munasinghe said he expected to see skipper Jayson Hobbs – who has had a lean season with the bat by his own high standards with a top score of 27 – to the rise to the occasion of finals.
“I also put my money on my skipper ‘Hobbsy’, he hasn’t had a really good run, he thinks a lot about the team and not so much his game,” Munasinghe said.
“I try and get him to think about his own game, if he gets going he will be an awesome player to watch.
“Better players come very hard on finals, they perform very well.”
Munasinghe also expected newly crowned Wookey Medallist Ishan Jayarathna to respond after conceding 89 runs from his 19 overs last time the sides met.
“If we get a few early wickets, game over I would say … we would be in a good seat,” Munasinghe added.
For Cox, he believed that limiting the firepower of Buckley’s formidable batting line-up would be crucial.
“(Buckley Ridges’) batting is really strong as well, they’ve got a few big names that have done well in the past and we haven’t beaten them this year either, that’s another thing we haven’t ticked off,” Cox said.
“Sometimes the week off can go against your momentum, but ours is pretty good at the moment, hopefully that’s something we can take into this weekend as well.”
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