VSDCA: UK teenager Dylan Driscoll hits 153 to fire Port Melbourne to victory
A Sussex batsman blasted 153 to engineer a breathtaking win for Port Melbourne, while Taylors Lakes, Brighton, Malvern, Elsternwick and Oakleigh also banked vital wins in VSDCA south-west section.
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Dylan Driscoll’s maiden century for Port Melbourne on Saturday was an innings of the highest order, but three successive shots in particular caused jaws to drop.
The English 19-year-old hit 153 off 143 balls to lead Port to a stunning run-chase victory over Spotswood at North Port Oval.
He’d walked to the crease with Port reeling at 2-0, chasing a hefty 268.
With his blazing bat and a positive mindset, Driscoll ignited Port Melbourne as it ran down the target with two wickets and three balls to spare in the VSDCA south-west section Round 3 one-day match.
“He played the same backfoot drive through cover three balls in row which all resulted in a boundary,” Port Melbourne captain Ryan McDonald enthused.
“That summed up his class for me.”
Driscoll has played Sussex 2nd XI back home and has come to Australia intent on scoring runs, and plenty of them.
“Dylan’s innings was special, definitely the best from a Port Melbourne player in recent history,’’ McDonald said.
“He took the challenge head-on and proved to the competition that he is one to watch this season. He has unbelievable timing and an ability to score to all parts of the ground. He proved his class and I think he has plenty more innings like that in him this season.’’
Spotswood captain Jakson Knight set the standard earlier in the day when he peeled off a superb 103 off 118 balls as the visitors put up 8-267 off 45 overs.
In reply, Port Melbourne lost Ruairidh Main and Sean Pickles for ducks and, at 2-0 in the third over, victory looked a long way off.
Enter Driscoll.
He and opener Jake Rothnie (33) rebuilt the innings with a 116-run partnership. Rothnie showed his intent with a magnificent pull shot for six.
Driscoll and Luke Domaschenz (26) then took the score to 3-188 as Port’s hopes rose. Driscoll put away 19 fours and 1 six, showing off an array of savage cross-bat shots and crisp straight drives.
Port achieved victory in the last over, with Finn Wright (4no) and Tarun Raina (1no) getting them home.
Malvern remains one of three sides undefeated after it handed Caulfield its first loss of the season.
The Roosters, led by a fighting half-century from Randev Pathirana, set the Fielders 5-198.
Opener Vinnie Page (67) steered Caulfield to 2-130 in reply but the Fielders quickly fell away after his dismissal, losing 5-24 and then 7-56 to be left 11 runs short.
Rooster Ben Slack jagged 5-39 off nine overs to bowl the visitors to victory.
Oakleigh, meanwhile, secured a gripping one-wicket win over Melton.
Chasing the Lions’ 9-158, the Oaks lost their eighth wicket six runs shy of the target before their ninth with the scores level.
A Geoffrey Latham single in the penultimate over secured the Oaks’ first win of the season.
Elsternwick captain Zac Grundmann did it all in his side’s strong win over Altona.
Grundmann supported star batter LJ Edwards (70) with a blistering 51no from just 35 deliveries before snaring 3-36 with the ball in the second innings.
Grundmann’s Eels defeated the hosts by 15 runs.
Taylors Lakes is sitting comfortably atop of the South-West ladder after it dismantled Williamstown.
The Lions restricted Willy to 7-180 off its 45 overs before mowing down the total with eight wickets and nine overs to spare.
All four Lions reached 30 with the bat with captain Steffan Roberts going on to make 52 not out.
A crisp 87 not out from Cooper Bingham delivered Brighton its third win of the season.
Bingham struck 12 fours in his 73-ball stay as the Tonners defeated Moorabbin on the last ball of the day.
The Tonners, chasing 208 for victory, needed five to win with two balls left.
Bingham watched on from the non-striker’s end as No. 9 Andrew Martin hit a four and a single to seal victory.
Moorabbin will rue its missed opportunities with a wide and a bye adding to the Tonners’ score in the final over.
Werribee skipper Tim O’Brien made a superb, unbeaten 72 (off 107 balls, with 7 fours) to steer his side to victory over Yarraville. A 51-run second wicket partnership between Adam Alifraco (42) and O’Brien gave the Tigers momentum as they overhauled Yarraville’s 9-162 with five wickets and two balls to spare. Earlier, Werribee youngster Kai Logan — on debut — nabbed 1-30 off nine overs.
Hoppers Crossing improved its record to 2-1 with an emphatic six-wicket win over Ormond. After restricting the Monders to 9-150, with Brett Smith (3-22) and Daryl Sunder Ferrario (3-22) impressing, Hoppers Crossing rushed to victory in only 22.2 overs, with skipper Simon Lambert cracking 55 off 35 balls (with 9 fours, 2 sixes), Bibek Virk 37 off 44 and Sunder Ferrario 31no off 30.
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