By David Nagel
Hallora (7/173) has breathed new life into the Warragul and District Division 1 premiership race after inflicting Western Park’s (160) first loss of the season at Hallora on Saturday.
Led brilliantly by in-form skipper Brett Williams (90) the Kangas overcame an awful start – being 2/3 and 3/22 – to set a competitive target for the ladder leaders.
Williams produced the epitome of a match-winning knock, sharing three important partnerships throughout the Kangas’ innings.
The opener put on 56 with number-five Lachlan Pratt (17) and 28 with number-seven Mitchell Smith (12) before putting the icing on the cake with a 62-run stand with James Williams (24 not out).
The skipper faced the first ball of the Kangas’ innings and was the last man out; off the fifth ball of the 40th over.
Jack Armour (3/32) was best for the Warriors, who made a steady start in reply.
Gavin Roulston (21) and number-three Joel Batson (65) had things ticking along nicely; the Warriors 1/51 in the 18th over before things took a turn for the worse.
Andrew Donohue (3/43) bowled both Roulston and Greg Munro (0) with consecutive balls to find himself on a hat-trick.
Sanjay Gangodawila (0) survived the Donohue hat-trick, but was soon on his way with Donohue claiming him with the first ball of his next over.
The Warriors were quickly 4/55…game on!
The experience of the Batson’s – Joel and skipper Sam (44) – steadied the ship for the Warriors with a grinding 64-run partnership.
Batson, of the Sam variety, departed with the third ball of the 33rd over…the Warriors still requiring 55 runs off 45 balls for victory.
It was a run-rate that proved the beyond the ladder leaders, with Tom Williams (3/27) also finding himself on a hat-trick after removing Joel Batson and Tyler McDonald (0) in the second last over of the match.
Jack Walsh (2) was last to go, with the Warriors falling 14 runs short of their target with just three balls remaining in the contest.
Donohue, Guest and Tom Williams shared the spoils for the winners, while Grant Duncan (0/22 off 8) also kept things tidy.
‘Duckworth Lewis’ was called into action at Longwarry (136), with the Crows losing despite scoring more runs than Ellinbank (8/125) at Longwarry.
Jeremy Gray (5/16) was sensational for Ellinbank before tea, claiming five scalps – including that of Crows’ top-scorer Johanne De Zilva (30).
Curtis Howell (43) then played a fine knock through the middle overs for the Eagles, guiding them to their revised total with the help of Matthew Wragg (20), Adam Campbell (18) and Co-captain Sean Masterson (11).
Ellinbank has now won two of its last three to sit in fourth place on the ladder.
Catani (2/86) is still harboring hopes of playing finals after a stellar bowling performance against Trafalgar (84) at Catani.
Louis Hennessy (34) was the only visitor to fire as Dan Vela (3/8), Jackson Pawsey (2/11) and James Vela (2/12) cleaned after some wonderfully-tight new-ball bowling from Daniel Glover (1/6 off 4) and Riley McDonald (0/7 off 4).
Ned Harrison (48) and James Vela (18 not out) then picked off the runs needed with ease.
And Drouin (0/90) was in a different class to Iona (86) at Bellbird Park.
Brad Glover (3/7), Ben Dixon (3/16) and skipper James Wilcock (2/14 off 6) ran through the cellar-dwellers with ease before Damon Healy (52 not out) and Trevor Gardiner (18 not out) put the game to bed without loss.
Results – Round 10: Longwarry 136 (38) def by Ellinbank 8/125 (36) – Duckworth Lewis, Catani 2/86 (18.1) def Trafalgar 84 (36.2), Hallora 7/173 (40) def Western Park 160 (39.3), Drouin 0/90 (22.4) def Iona 86 (26.2).
Ladder: Western Park 49, Drouin 39, Hallora 39, Ellinbank 30/Catani 27, Longwarry 27, Trafalgar 21, Iona 12.
Fixture R11: Western Park (1) v Drouin (2), Catani (5) v Hallora (3), Trafalgar (7) v Longwarry (6), Iona (8) v Ellinbank (4)
