Buln Buln finish season on a high

Division 1

Buln (7-209) def. Drouin (194): After a disappointing season that few saw coming, Buln Buln at least finished the summer on a high – taking out a three-wicket win over Drouin on the back of a sterling seventh stand between Brent Eastwell and Reece Campbell.

In pursuit of 194, and coming up against an undermanned Hawks bowling line-up (with Luke Radford and Simon Gardiner both missing), the Lyrebirds began poorly, with Charlie Park and Jack Armour both departing early in the piece.

They slipped further into the mire when Brayden Fowler had his stumps disturbed to be on his way for 10, and Brad Glover removed both Holdsworth and Corey Jagoe to have the score 561. Unperturbed however, Eastwell set about rectifying the innings, and found valuable support from Ryan Bishop. The pair added 61 for the sixth wicket – with Bishop dominating the stand – and put themselves into a position where they could still push for victory.

Dale Weller extracted some extra bounce to remove Bishop, but the arrival of Campbell at the crease signaled a change in the game.

He struck an unbeaten 41 to match Eastwell’s 58, and with Jackson Noonan chiming in with 19* Buln were able to reach victory late in the day before finishing at 7-209.

Finals warm up

Hallora (212) def. Yarragon (171): Not even an eight-wicket haul to Gamini Kumara could stop Hallora from warming up for their finals campaign with a win – as the Kangaroos took out a 41-run victory over the Panthers on Saturday.

Chasing 171, Hallora always seemed to maintain control over proceedings, although some early hiccups provided Yarragon with a glimmer of hope.

Fraser Duncan was trapped in front for 10, Ryan Williams was bowled first ball, and James Vela was caught for 29 to have the scoreboard 3-48 but there was enough depth in the Kangaroos batting line-up to quell any fears of an upset loss.

Brett Williams (47) and David Macdermid (44) added 75 for the fourth wicket to move Hallora within touching distance of victory, and despite Kumara continuing to take wickets the Kangaroos had enough answers to reach their target with three wickets in hand.

Toby Codd (26) and Aidan Phillips (an unbeaten 30) were the beneficiaries of some extra time in the middle, before Kumara again struck – finishing with the incredible figures of 8-62 from 27.3 – to curtail the innings at 212.

Hopes of upset dashed

Western Park (9-231) def. Neerim District (147): Western Park’s front-line bowlers warmed up for the finals series with a disciplined performance against Neerim District, as the Warriors took home a comfortable 84-run win over the Stags.

Any hopes Neerim had of pulling off an upset win to finish the summer were quickly dashed by the opening bowlers, with Sam Batson and Chris Perry removing Aaron Fawcett and Ash Lockett to have the scoreboard reading 21, and from there on in it was mostly a matter of survival for the Stags.

Jack Ward sent out a reminder of his form with a gritty 31, while the likes of Dane Fawcett (25), Dave Ferguson (18) and Warren Darcy (16) chimed in with important contributions.

However, the potency of Batson (who snared 3-44 from his 22 overs) and Perry (who finished with 2-59) combined with the accuracy of McDonald (2-24) and Croft (3-10 from 8.4) ensured that Neerim were never in the hunt for victory.

In the end, after 60.1 overs the Stags were bowled out for 147, ending a disappointing summer for them.

For Western Park, it was just another step in their quest for another premiership – and they enter the finals series on the back of yet another impressive performance.

Bankers lock in semi

Ellinbank (203) def. Longwarry (142): Ellinbank locked up fourth spot on the division one ladder with their 61-run win over Longwarry, and the Eagles batsmen enjoyed some quality time in the middle something that could be invaluable when they face up against Western Park’s fearsome attack in the semi-final.

Longwarry did their best to restrict their opponents and to claim a consolation win to finish the season, but a series of cameos from the middle and lower order helped Ellinbank to push past the required total and onto 203 before they were dismissed in the 72nd over.

Matthew Farthing (38), Michael Masterson (27), Nick Fairbank (33) and Sean Masterson (23) all showed glimpses of their best form with the bat, but none were able to push on and post a big score. However, they did enough to ensure that their side would emerge victorious.

The wickets were shared around as the ball was thrown around the field in the closing stages of the game, with Sweeney, MacDonald and LaFrantz the pick of the bowlers with two wickets each.