Mentone eyes CSB finals success, South Caulfield’s Joshuah O’Donnell blitzes century
Mentone’s steady rise in Cricket Southern Bayside will take in another finals campaign in Championship Division as the Tigers’ crop of exciting teenagers make their mark. And a South Caulfield batting star’s golden summer hit a big milestone.
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On a four-game tear, Mentone hits the Cricket Southern Bayside Championship Division finals at pace.
The emerging Tigers overpowered fellow finals contender Mordialloc in the last round on Saturday, prompting skipper Dane Heverin to declare, “we’re building”.
“We’ve really found our rhythm in the back half of the season, and since Christmas we’ve played some excellent cricket,” he said.
As well as looming as a genuine flag contender in 2024-25, Mentone is also building for the future.
Its side on Saturday contained three 17-year-olds — Ollie Donat, Zane Schultz and Robert Hodgetts.
And it might have been four had Darcy Arnott not injured an ankle playing basketball recently. He took three wickets on debut against Murrumbeena last month.
The Tiger cubs are an exciting element in Mentone’s rise in CSB. The Tigers have finished fifth, fourth and third on the ladder in the past three seasons, going a step better each year.
“We’ve got a really good group of teenagers coming through at the moment,” Heverin said.
On Saturday, Mentone restricted Mordialloc to 8-209 off 40 overs and then chased it down with 19 balls and five wickets to spare, making 5-210, at Hogben/Meckiff Oval.
Heverin led the chase with 58 off 60 balls (with 7 fours and 2 sixes), going past 400 runs for the season and sharing a 90-run third wicket partnership with Michael Waller (30).
Comrey Edgeworth (47no) and wicketkeeper Blake Thompson (40no) steered the Tigers home with an unconquered 72-run stand after coming together at 5-138.
“It was just a really good run chase,” Heverin said.
“One of the big reasons why we’ve been playing really good cricket is because we’ve had different people standing up making runs at different times.
“I’m really happy with our depth and that showed again in the run chase yesterday, we were really steady and consistent throughout, up with the rate pretty much the whole innings. Even when we lost wickets we didn’t lose momentum, the guys coming in played really freely and played well.”
With the ball, Mentone left-armer Matthew Walker impressed, taking 4-27 off eight overs. Young paceman Schultz claimed 2-41 and Michael Waller 1-31.
Mordialloc No. 6 Kalugaga Yoshan Kumara blasted 65 off 46 balls before being bowled by Walker.
Lochlan Davies (43) and opener Brendan Morris (30) were also in the runs for the Bloodhounds.
Mentone will face Bonbeach in a semi-final at Bonbeach next Saturday and Sunday.
A spot in the grand final is up for grabs and Heverin said his side would go into the contest with positive intent.
“It’s just as simple as we’ve got to keep doing what we’ve been doing, just playing really good cricket,’’ he said.
“If we do that we’ll be okay.’’
Bonbeach, which finished in second spot, will be without key players Tom Smith (ruptured achilles) and English import George Thomas, who’s returned to the UK.
“They’ve obviously lost Tom and George out of their top order which is important but they’re still a very good team,’’ Heverin said of Bonny.
“If you have a look through the stats they’ve got three or four other guys who are in the top 20 run scorers in the league.
“They don’t necessarily just rely on those two guys. They’ve had other players stand up and make runs. They’ve always been a very good bowling side. Their bowling attack is very strong. It will be a good challenge.’’
In the other semi-final, Mordialloc faces reigning premiers South Caulfield, which is on an eight-game winning streak.
GOLDEN SUMMER FOR SOUTH STAR
Joshuah O’Donnell continued his hot form with an unbeaten century in South Caulfield’s win over Murrumbeena. O’Donnell hit 9 fours and 3 sixes on his way to 103 not out off 115 balls — lifting his season tally to 502, the best in the comp — to set up South’s 4-234. Callum Nankervis (64 off 41 balls) and Lewis Mildenhall (34) also hit the ball well. In reply, Murrumbeena was dismissed for 172, with opener Arshaan Jasani (44) doing best. Kaz Szymanski (3-24) and Alex Mason (3-37) did the damage for South Caulfield. Mason topped the wickets chart in Championship Division with 25, at 19.8.
SHARKS SINK DEMONS
Bonbeach skipper Callum Dodson took 2-22 off eight overs as the Sharks sealed Bentleigh’s relegation fate. Bentleigh made a bad start, slumping to 4-37, and never recovered, dismissed for 150. In reply, Bonbeach achieved victory in the 37th over, making 6-154, with Jonny Sadler, who’s had a run-filled season in Division 2, top-scoring with 38, supported by Jack Bailey (34), Ollie Morgan (23) and Robbie Lancaster (18no).
SIX BLITZ AS BEAUIE BLASTS OFF
Beaumaris skipper Adam Bull and gun No. 3 Noah Kelly plundered half-centuries in the Sharks’ resounding win over St Brigid’s St Louis. Chasing 175, Beauie needed only 23.2 overs to achieve victory, with Bull blitzing 70 off 51 balls (6 fours, 4 sixes) and Kelly cracking 69 not out off 39 balls (with 4 fours and 6 sixes). Kelly finished with 489 runs, at 48.9
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