MULGRAVE RUNS DOWN ROVERS
ROVERS have dropped to fourth on the ladder after falling short to Mulgrave at Miniecon Gregory Oval on Saturday.
It was a tough ask for Rovers to topple the competition’s first and second-place teams in the space of two weeks, but it didn’t stop them from giving it their all, and almost coming up trumps. Rovers’ opening batsmen Bobby Brix and Tom Van den Berg looked comfortable early and patiently picked their shots in a 50-run partnership before Van den Berg was run out for 20 off 29.
Brix was Rovers’ top scorer with 38 off 63.
Further contributions from Rovers’ Thomas Lever (17) and Brenton Edwards (17) saw them get to a total of 133 before being bowled out in the 38th over.
Mulgrave’s chase wasn’t without adversity but, thanks to another big knock from Jake Roach, who followed up his previous week’s 84 with 44 not out, and a tidy 33 from Neville Philp, the Toads were able to shift momentum ever-soslightly in their favour.
Rovers clawed back through the wicket of Wade Matthews to put Mulgrave in a dubious position at 6/112 with less than 10 overs remaining.
With the game seemingly up for grabs, Mulgrave’s William Robertson made his way to the pitch and, as it turns out, he only had one thing on his mind.
Not one to muck about, Robertson hit 18 off 6, including a game-winning four, to give his team a four-wicket win with three overs to spare.
Meanwhile, in Tully, Cassowary Coast put up an unassailable 211 against Barron River to walk away with a 25-run win.
The slug-fest saw all four opening batsmen hit halfcenturies – Cassowary Coast’s Jasranjeet Kalkat (65) and Dan Bradford (51), and Barron’s Dylan McDonald (68) Nicholas Rayner (59).