THE Seymour District Cricket Association closed out its second last round before the Christmas and New Year break on Saturday.
In Seymour Club A grade, Seymour sits equal on points with Tallarook on top of the ladder after scoring a 26-run win at Chittick Park.
Batting first, the Seymour batting order had a multitude of players getting off to starts, but not quite going on with it, with seven players scoring in double digits, led by captain Braidon Horkings, who helped the tail wag by scoring 23, as Seymour made 139.
However, the complexion of the game changed once Seymour took the new ball, and, as a result, made mincemeat of the Tallarook top order, leaving it 4/29.
Joshua Rudge provided some much-needed resistance at the top of the order, and along with Tarkyn Dundon, shared a 60-run partnership to make it 4/89.
However, Seymour would take wickets in quick clumps, led by Lachlan Drummond, who took 4/13 off 7.3 overs, and Daniel Bergowicz, who took 3/37, and Tallarook was dismissed for 113.
Puckapunyal was bested by Alexandra by four wickets at Leckie Park.
Batting first, Charles Davies helped Pucka get to 4/120, but they soon lost 6/10 to fall all out 130.
With the ball, Lachlan Deeble helped get Pucka off to a good start, taking 2/18 off four overs and leaving Alexandra 4/38, but it steadied to finish on 6/131.
Pyalong have dropped out of the top four after falling to a six-wicket loss at Yea Recreation Reserve.
Pyalong batted first, but was in desperate trouble at 6/34, before late hitting from James Hadjiloukas, who scored 18, and captain Matthew Pratt, who top-scored with 22, helped Pyalong score 79.
Despite some stellar bowling from Steven Mitchell, who took 2/13 and bowled six maidens across his nine overs, giving Pyalong a little look at defending the total after Yea were 3/19, the Tigers rebounded to chase down the target.
Remarkably, Atmos Renewables B grade was a complete flip of the script to A grade.
Tallarook scored a 29-run win over Seymour, with David McCullough scoring 25 and Brendan O’Donnell 22 to help Tallarook make 105, before Sam Watts’ 3/25, and Braeden Dundon, O’Donnell and Whitfield took two wickets apiece to help restrict Seymour to 9/76.
Jacob Nipperess marshalled Puckapunyal’s middle order, helping it score a 19-run win over Alexandra.
His 51 runs proved to be a key in Pucka scoring 136, while Vaughan Agnew did the damage with the ball, taking 5/33 off nine overs to restrict Alexandra to 117.
Pyalong’s tail wagged to help it score a 119-run victory over Yea.
Martin Leahy top-scored with 41 runs, while Damien Zoch added 28 as Pyalong finished on 7/174, before Anthony Pratt and Peter Reynolds’ three-wicket hauls helped bundle Yea out for 55.
