Batson bowls staggering spell
from the physical assault rendered on him to last weekend to snare two sharp takes, while the rest of the slips cordon were kept busy.
Paul Timewell did his level best to somehow rescue his side with a defiant 23 at the top of the order, but there was scant resistance from other batsmen, and after 56.4 overs Drouin were dismissed for 49.
Hallora on top
Hallora (7-218) def. Yarragon (104 and 77):
Hallora have moved to the top of the division one table thanks to their dominant outright win over Yarragon – with the Panthers finding the heat too much to handle in their second innings.
Hallora resumed having already claimed victory and on the back of knocks of 74 to Fraser Duncan and 67 to Ryan Williams, and carried the score through to 7-218 before the Kangaroos declared to have another crack at the Yarragon line-up.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, they showed scant resistance, with Ryan Williams and James Williams doing as they pleased with the ball.
Andy Trewern (0), Ishan Ratnayake (8), Jake Green (8) and Gamini Kumara (astonishingly trapped leg before wicket for a third-ball duck) all fell early in the piece and from 4-22 there was little the rest of the batsmen could do.
Ryan Williams (4-10 from 11) and James Williams (4-29 off 14, including 11 maidens) kept taking wickets at regular intervals and after just 47.5 overs Yarragon found themselves dismissed for a second time for just 77.
Eagles alive
Ellinbank (6-242) (239):
In a high-scoring encounter in division one, Ellinbank has emerged from their clash against Longwarry with a six-wicket win, keeping their finals hopes alive as we head into the latter part of the home-and-away season.
In a match reduced to a one-day encounter due to a dangerous pitch last weekend, Longwarry would have been confident of victory after their performance with the bat – the Crows blasting their way to 239.
Tom Keily led the way in the early stages and put opening bowlers Will Robertson and Nick Fairbank to the sword, with his knock of 56 well and truly setting the tone for the innings.
Sean Masterson (2-35 from eight) and Jeremy Gray (2-22 off four) did their bit to attempt to slow down scoring with valuable breakthroughs in the middle part of the innings, but Dominic Pullen belted 86 in a sensational display of hitting to boost the total.
Any hopes of victory soon evaporated for Longwarry however, with Troy Ferguson and Alex Gaudion igniting the run-chase with a bevy of boundaries.
Joey Sweeney fell the full brunt of their blitzkrieg – going for 42 from his three overs – and Matthew Farthing (49), Sean Masterson (an unbeaten 56) and Jeremy Gray (a boundaryladen 24 not out) ensured the runs would keep flowing – the Eagles reaching their target in the 35th over. def. Longwarry