AS the end of the season draws ever closer, there were some rather dominant performances on the weekend that really started to determine who would make finals in the Victorian Premier Cricket Women’s 2nd and 3rd grades. We run through what went down across the weekend.

Box Hill vs Plenty Valley

2nd XI

Box Hill have comprehensively beaten Plenty Valley to further entrench themselves up the top of the ladder, while keeping the Bats relegated to the bottom.

The Mustangs ripped through the batting order of Plenty Valley to completely dismiss the Bats for only 89.

In response, the Mustangs only needed 17 overs to reach the target themselves.

For the Mustangs, the standouts were their bowlers, which left not much work for the batters. Tanya Arul, Sunny Plant and Lani Dejong all picked up two wickets each.

3rd XI

An absolutely dominant all-round display from Box Hill saw them comfortably defeat Plenty Valley in the 3rds clash.

A top partnership from Michelle Winterton and Nicole Breschkin saw them make a whopping 0/201 off their 40 overs. Winterton made 98, while captain Breschkin added 71.

In reply, they were also dominant with the ball and bowled the Bats out for a mere 48 within 16 overs.

Among the Mustang bowlers, Zoe Spicer was the top wicket taker with three, while Bhanu Mahendran and Disha Dixit took two wickets apiece.

Essendon Maribyrnong Park vs Ringwood

2nd XI

Off the back of a 54 from Tomeka Fowlie, the Bombers made 192 off their 45 overs. It wasn’t enough though as Ringwood was able to clinch the win despite being down to its last possible partnership.

Alexandra Sheedy belted a 53 in the win for the Rams, while Sophie Rohkamper made 43.

Meanwhile in the bowling side of things, Haylee Landi took three wickets for the Rams, as did Hannah Brne for the Bombers, but it was Fowlie who topped the bowling tally with four wickets.

3rd XI

After a stellar performance with the ball, the Bombers bowled the Rams out for only 82 within 30 overs, and in reply they needed just over 15 overs to reach the target.

After they had such a good innings with the ball, there was not too much for the batters to do.

Grace Lee was an absolute star with the ball for EMP,  taking 4/1 off 4 overs, which included three impressive maidens.

Dandenong vs Carlton

2nd XI

After a nice start, a batting collapse from Dandenong saw them bowled out for only 113.

In reply, it went down to the wire with the Panthers only needing one wicket for the win, but Carlton holding out in the end.

It was definitely an afternoon for the bowlers, with no one really getting a decent start with the bat.

For the victors, Mia Earl took four poles, while Joeline Herathge claimed two.

Meanwhile for the Panthers, Natalie Taylor and Grace Wrigglesworth each took two wickets.

3rd XI

After a comprehensive innings with the ball, Dandenong earned a comprehensive win over Carlton.  

After bowling the Blues out for 98, it took Dandenong not even 22 overs to reach the target.

After the likes of Nilakshi Perera (three wickets), Lillian Strong and Grace Lewis (two wickets each) were so dominant with the ball, there wasn’t much work for the Dandenong batters to do.

Geelong vs Melbourne

2nd XI

An Amelie O’Meara 111 helped set up for Melbourne for an extremely competitive total of 6/254 off their 45 overs, which Geelong ultimately had no hope of matching. A stellar bowling performance from the Dees saw them bowl out the Cats for a mere 99.

For the Dees it was a very even bowling effort, but Vanchica Pathania topped the bowling card with two wickets.

For the Cats, the best of the bowlers was Sophie Walsh with two wickets.

3rd XI

After bowling out the Dees for 135, Geelong were able to reach the target with just over two overs to go.

For the Cats, Charlotte Poyner and Summer Don took two wickets each, but it was Freya Palmer who topped the bowling card for her side with three wickets each.

Meanwhile for the Dees, it was Sahana Tarini who was the best of her side’s bowlers with two wickets.