By Jackson Russell
Romsey was able to rebound from its first up loss with a nail-biting five-wicket away win over Bacchus Marsh in their Gisborne District Cricket Association McIntyre Cup clash on Saturday.
The hosts set a strong target, finishing the innings at 5/199 from their 40 overs.
A shaky start had Bacchus Marsh 1/15 before Brett McGrath (45) and James Lidgett (84) put together a 103-run second-wicket partnership.
McGrath’s wicket was claimed by Matt Milne, his first of three for the day but by the time Lidgett was dismissed by Milne, Bacchus Marsh was 4/189.
Milne finished with figures of 3/45 from eight overs while Aaron Paterson and Darin Jewell both had figures of 1/33.
A captain’s knock from Romsey skipper Ben Way led the Redbacks to victory, finishing the run chase with just one ball to spare.
Romsey looked to be in trouble early, falling to 3/68 before Adam Frost (30) and Way put together a quick-fire 20-run partnership.
When Frost fell, Taylor Stevenson (33) entered and a 99-run partnership with his skipper wrestled control of the match away from Bacchus March.
Way finished the day unbeaten on 79 from 59 balls and scored the winning runs on the penultimate ball.
Wallan undefeated
Wallan remains undefeated in the Johnstone Shield after a 12-run win over Sunbury Kangaroos at Sunbury.
The Magpies got off to a decent start and were 2/58 until a middle order collapse left them 7/86.
Jai Weshal came in at 6/77 and made 89 before being the final wicket taken at 9/178, where Wallan finished its innings.
The Magpies struck early from the field and had Sunbury 1/2 as opener Corey Woolley tried to hold the innings together on his way to 61 but struggled to find partners to stay at the crease with him until combining with captain Nathan Anderson for a 65-run partnership.
Both Woolley and Anderson fell in quick succession, leading to Sunbury losing their last four wickets for 30 runs and being bowled out for 166 from 39 overs.
Mitch Van De Duim (2/38), Harkanwarpreet Singh (2/35) and Joel Glider (2/31) led Wallan’s bowling attack in the win.
