Division 1
18 6 0 12 12 6 6 Western Park (5-121) def. Hallora (120): Dave Burn marked his first appearance in division one since 2013 with a three-wicket haul that propelled Western Park to a runaway five-wicket win over Hallora – a victory that moves the Warriors back into the top four at the halfway mark of the homeand-away season.
Burn was handed the new-ball by captain Sam Batson and the wily seamer extracted enough zip off the Logan Park synthetic deck to remove Sam Whibley for three and Fraser Duncan for 0, with the score 2-11.
Not content with just those two crucial scalps, ‘Treebeard’ Burn then had Macdermid edging behind for nought and from then on there was little chance that Hallora would post a winning total. Brett Williams and Aidan Philips halted the slump somewhat with a patient partnership, but a 10th wicket stand of 28 between Craig Byrnes (who made 12) and Simon Phillips (who chimed in with an unbeaten 13) was needed to help the Kangaroos reach three figures; dismissed for 120 in the 40th over.
In reply, Adam Feltham’s division one debut didn’t quite reach the heights he might have hoped – the youngster caught behind off the very first ball of the innings – but Matthew Wakefield and Sanjaya Gangodawila put any Halloran hopes to rest with a blazing counterattack.
Sam Whibley’s two overs went for 31, and Aiden Phillips saw 38 taken from his three, as Wakefield (a 56-ball 65) helped Western Park to victory in just the 21st over.
Buln ease to win
Buln Buln (4-100) def. Longwarry (8-96): Buln Buln eased to a six-wicket win over Longwarry in their round seven clash, a victory that sees the Lyrebirds sitting pretty at the top of the division one tree, with Longwarry’s batsmen simply unable to force the issue enough to challenge the league-leaders.
The metronomical approach from Ricky McKerrow (marking his Buln debut with 1-10 from seven), Bryce Monahan and Jeff Walsh put early brakes on the Crows’ scoring rate and despite some brief resistance from Tom Keily there was precious little to celebrate for the Longwarry squad.