A FASCINATING fourth round of the Seymour District Cricket Association brought close games, big runs and plenty of wickets to go around.
In A grade, Pyalong dominated in its clash against Puckapunyal, winning by 173 runs.
Batting first, Pyalong was well-served by James Hadjiloukas, who scored 76, including five fours and two sixes, while Daniel Sowden’s 52 and Zane Ryan’s 61 also served Pyalong well as it made 4/237 off its 45 overs.
Benjamin Hughes was the best-performed bowler from Puckapunyal, taking 2/48 off eight overs.
Puckapunyal struggled greatly, with Sebastian Belcher’s 32 providing the most resistance for Pucka as no other batsman made more than six runs.
Matthew Pratt did all the damage for Pyalong, taking 5/12 off nine overs, while Mitchell Wittig also took 3/8 and Tyler Caddie 2/17 as Puckapunyal was rolled for 64.
In a thrilling encounter, Seymour fell just nine runs short against Yea.
The Maroons looked in good shape early on as they had Yea 5/66, but a quality knock from Marc Steiner, who scored 47, allowed Yea to make 170.
Simon Van Duinen was the pick of the bowlers for the Maroons, taking 2/12, while Cameron Evans took 2/16 off nine overs and Brodey Pointon 2/46 off nine.
Seymour struggled in the early stages with the bat, sitting at 4/58, but Lachlan Drummond gave it a great chance thanks to his 75 off 67 deliveries, scoring nine fours and two sixes.
However, when he fell, Seymour’s chance of winning went with it, with only Jason Brown scoring in double figures alongside him as Seymour were all out for 161.
Tallarook utilised some good middle order hitting to beat Alexandra by 46 runs.
After losing the wickets of Jac Smith Williams and Hamish Melville early, Lachlan Watts got Tallarook back on track with 33, while Dale Short (40), Leigh Irving (22) and Andrew Dundon (38) also gave Tallarook a good platform, despite losing 5/26 to finish on 9/165.
Irving and Dundon then got the job done with the ball, with Irving taking 3/9 and Dundon 3/15 to help bowl Alexandra out for 119.
