VSDCA: The young guns who impressed in JG Craig Shield

The JG Craig Shield final has been locked in after two thrilling semi-finals. Here’s how they played out.

Melton is through to the semi-finals after a strong bowling performance.

Brighton and Croydon will contest the JG Craig Shield final on Sunday.

Croydon will represent the eastern section of the competition after overcoming Melton by six wickets on Thursday.

The Lions were only able to post 9-115 from their 45 overs as Jobe Williams led Croydon’s bowling performance with 2-16 from seven overs as Atharv Sawant top scored with 23.

Despite the loss of an early wicket, Croydon regained composure before Yuvraj Sharma and George Lyons guided their side across the line.

Brighton assured its place in the final with a thrilling one-wicket win over Brunswick.

Brunswick reached 116 before it was all out led by Nicanor Martel’s 47 as Luke Lawrence took three wickets.

Lawrence then hit the winning runs as Spencer Ries top scored with 28.

QUARTER-FINAL REVIEW

The final four teams of the 2024 JG Craig Shield are now locked in.

Brunswick moved through to the semi-finals with a commanding 219-run over Spotswood that was built on the back of twin centuries to vice-captain Nicanor Martel (105 off 101) and George Reinehr (100 off 119 before retiring hurt).

The pair shared a 181-run stand as the home side posted 5-293 from their 45 overs with Ruben Powell (51 off 26) scoring a quickfire half-century.

In response, Spotswood was all out for 74 as Max Mahoney led the way with 3-9.

Melton produced a dominant bowling display of its own to secure a two-wicket win over Coburg on a tricky MacPherson Park pitch.

The home side rolled Coburg for just 98 as George Martindale and Whitiora Kilmartin claimed three wickets each.

The Lions reached their target eight down as Jujhar Singh Tamber top scored with 29 off 51.

Melton is through to the semi-finals after a strong bowling performance.

Croydon demonstrated its power with the bat in an impressive 36-run win over Ormond.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the visitors posted 7-174 highlighted by Noah Occhipinti’s half-century while Yuvraj Sharma impressed with an unbeaten 42.

Ormond was all out for 136 as Sharma led the way with the ball taking 4-14 from his nine overs as Xavier Noonan claimed three wickets of his own.

Brighton successfully chased down its target of 142 with just under five overs remaining against Bayswater.

Ethan Loy-Abrahams (47 off 72) guided Bayswater to 8-141 but impressive knocks from Will McKean (42 off 71) and James Damiano (45 off 75) set Brighton the perfect platform in its run chase.

Archie Grikis (20 off 61) and Lachlan Harrop (24 off 28) showed fantastic poise to finish the job.

EARLIER

Tuesday appeared to be prime batting conditions in the JG Craig Shield but it was a performance from a Strathmore young gun which stole the show.

Seth Dharmawimala, who plays across three junior clubs including Essendon, Moonee Ponds and United Tarneit, producing a stunning spell which ended in him take 7-14 off nine overs to led his side to a big win over St Bernard’s.

It was an impressive performance at Canning Reserve as he led his side to their first win of the campaign.

Another impressive performance with the ball came from Yarraville’s Japjot Singh who took a remarkable 4-1, combining with wicketkeeper Mick McMahon (two catches, two stumpings, for all of his side’s wickets in a win over Taylors Lakes.

Meanwhile the best performance of the day went to Dhanush Dahiya who hit 70 for Ivanhoe in his side’s loss to Coburg.

ROUND 5 RESULTS

SOUTH: Ormond 8-244 (Mahncke 61, Goldthorp 60) def. Caulfield 51; Elsternwick 6-203 (Bridges 54) def. Moorabbin 201 (Malwatta 62); Malvern 3-119 (Stevenson 50no) def. Oakleigh 6-117; Brighton 7-195 (Damiano 55) def. Port Melbourne 126.

EAST: Balwyn 5-173 (Bhatkhande 58) def. Box Hill 172; Croydon 2-122 (Critchley 6 7no) def. Noble Park 86; Mt Waverley 8-96 def. Endeavour Hills 92; Bayswater 6-97 def. Donvale 7-94.

NORTH: Brunswick 6-151 (Desai 52) def. Preston 8-127; Kew 5-255 (Lange 66, Johns 64) def. Plenty Valley 198; Coburg 6-140 def. Ivanhoe 136 (Dahiya 70); Strathmore 9-107 def. St Bernards 97 (Dharmawimala 7-14).

WEST: Yarraville 84 def. Taylors Lakes 44 (Singh 4-1); Melton 7-194 (Tambar 57) def. Williamstown 62; Werribee 7-141 def. Hoppers Crossing 7-134; Spotswood 179 def. Altona 166.

ROUND 4 REVIEW

Bowlers have dominated proceedings on the second day of the JG Craig Shield for 2024.

Across the competition, big scores were hard to come by as up and coming paceman and spinners put their talents on display.

Several bowlers claimed four wicket hauls including Arjun Upadhyay (Taylors Lakes, 4-15), Aryan Singh (Altona, 4-18, Darcy Parker (Coburg, 4-3), Omid Rahman Ahmadzai (Endeavour Hills, 4-17) and Robert Graham (Altona, 4-30).

The day’s highest score again belonged to Malvern’s Sash Yuvaraj as he hit 83 runs off 90 balls in his side’s win over Elsternwick.

ROUND 4 RESULTS

EAST: Bayswater 6-113 def. Balwyn 112; Noble Park 8-160 def. Box Hill 7-148; Croydon 5-96 def. Mt Waverley 55; Endeavour Hills 7-157 def. Donvale 126.

NORTH: St Bernard’s 8-138 (Ahmed 53) def Preston 8-136; Brunswick 9-141 def. Kew 109; Ivanhoe 78 def. Plenty Valley 56; Coburg 6-167 def. Strathmore 85.

SOUTH: Ormond 2-156 (Scott 67, Rasa 56) def. Brighton 155; Moorabbin 2-94 (Singh 52 no) def. Caulfield 92; Malvern 6-181 (Yuvaraj 83) def. Elsternwick 117; Oakleigh 4-119 def. Port Melbourne 118.

WEST: Yarraville 144 (Jabjot Singh 54) def. Altona 7-136 (Aryan Verma 51); Taylors Lakes 145 def. Williamstown 95; Melton 3-131 (Tamber 66) def. Werribee 7-130; Spotswood 117 (Harb 52 no) def. Hoppers Crossing 83.

ROUND 3 REVIEW

The JG Craig Shield finally got underway on Wednesday after Melbourne’s wet weather wreaked havoc washed out the first two games.

Across all four games there was a series of impressive performers with some impressive batting displays and bowling performances.

Malvern’s Sash Yuvaraj hit the highest score of the day with 73 runs off 81 balls in his side’s big win over Caulfield.

What was so impressive about his performance was the his running between wickets, hitting just one four in the innings.

Daniel Joshua (Kew, 50 not out), Ethan Loy-Abrahams (Bayswater, 61), Henry Allsop (Noble Park, 56), Noah Occhipinti (Croydon, 53) and Tanish Singh (Moorrabbin, 51) were the other players to hit half-centuries throughout the day.

Altona’s Rocco Marciello was the pick of the bowlers throughout the day after he picked up 5-11 as his side bowled Williamstown out for just 80.

Other impressive figures came from Ashley Fernando (Coburg, 4-11), Benjamin Head (Preston, 4-12), Keiran Mant (Moorabbin, 4-24), Parker Edmunds (Brighton, 4-25) and Sam O’Brien (Kew, 4-2).

ROUND 3 RESULTS

NORTH: Kew 2-151 (Joshua 50no) def. St Bernards 89; Brunswick 8-152 def Ivanhoe 80; Coburg 7-152 def. Plenty Valley 138; Preston 6-120 def. Strathmore 70 (Head 4-12).

SOUTH: Brighton 9-161 def. Moorabbin 9-147 (Singh 51); Malvern 7-165 (Yuvaraj 73) def. Caulfield 131; Oakleigh 9-142 def. Elsternwick 118; Ormond 6-170 def. Port Melbourne 125.

EAST: Balwyn 112 def. Donvale 65; Bayswater 7-168 (Abrahams 61) def. Noble Park 151 (Allsop 50); Mt Waverley 3-141 def. Box Hill 8-120; Croydon 5-160 d Endeavour Hills 101.

WEST: Altona 2-119 def. Williamstown 81 (Marciello 5-11); Werribee 3-112 def. Taylors Lakes 7-110; Melton 8-103 def. Hoppers Crossing 100; Spotswood 166 d Yarraville 9-138.