Eastern Hill remain undefeated in the Seymour District Cricket Association, SDCA, as the season heads into its final rounds.
The Eagles faced second-place Tallarook, electing to bat first.
Tallarook looked in a good position to chase with the side 5-57 before Eastern Hill had an 84-run partnership.
Eastern Hill’s Benjamin Bryant led the run count with 65 as the side made 7/160 (43), while Tallarook’s Leigh Irving had 2/6 at the end of the innings.
The ‘Rook’s chase started slow with Joshua Rudge sent out for a duck followed shortly after by captain Lachlan Watts, leaving the side 2/8.
Back-to-back ducks by Eastern Hill’s Fraser Lewis and some quick wickets shortly after had the side trailing 6/9 before it finally got some runs on the board.
The ‘Rook continued chipping away but could not conjure any big efforts leaving them 10/50 (24.5).
Eastern Hill’s Lewis remained strong in bowls with 5/20 while Bryant had 3/16.
The win secures the Eagles’ spot at the top of the ladder heading into finals, now clear of Tallarook by three wins.
Watts said Tallarook had a tough start.
“We had a pretty untidy start with the ball but did well to pull them back in through the middle overs through some tight bowling from Leigh Irving and Dale Short,” he said.
“Towards the back end of their innings, we were a bit sloppy and let them put a solid total on the board.
“With the bat, it was just one of those days, and we couldn’t seem to stop the wickets falling at the top.
“It’s pretty disappointing for us to put out a performance like that in a big game but it’s certainly not the end of the world.
“We’ve got a couple of rounds to right the ship before finals and we’ll be heading in hungry to take our game up a few notches.”
Over in Pyalong, the side secured a win after a slight dry spell, defeating Alexandra 8/187 (45) to 10/105 (36.3).
Electing to bat Pyalong started slow with 1/3 as Matthew Pratt walked for a duck, however a 66-run partnership followed – backed up by a 43-run effort.
The runs slowed down in the middle of the order but picked back up in the final overs with a 67-run partnership.
Daniel Sowden had half a century while Sean Delaney and captain Jamie Pryor had 46 and 33 runs respectively.
Alexandra slowly began its chase – consistently adding to the run count but, despite some bigger efforts in the middle, couldn’t catch Pyalong with Jamie Biagioni taking 2/7 and captain Pryor 3/28.
Pryor said it was nice to get a win.
“It was nice to bounce back after a rough few weeks,” he said.
“We got off to a flyer with the bat but the classic Pyalong collapse struck again.
“Thankfully Seany and Jase were able to counter that and get us back into a winning position.
“Was a team effort with the ball to not let a partnership build the whole way through.
“Season is still alive for us. Lots to play for next weekend.”
In Yea, the Tigers defeated Seymour 4/118 (33) to 10/116 (44.4).
In the second last round of the SDCA season Alexandra play Avenel at Leckie Park, Yea make the trip to Kings Park to face Eastern Hill and Tallarook will host Pyalong.
