Swamp Tigers shore up top position
Kelliher on song
Neerim District (162) def. Longwarry (65): A four-wicket haul to Matthew Kelliher helped Neerim District claim a thumping 97-run win over Longwarry in their encounter at the weekend, with the Crows batsmen having no answers to the pressure applied by the Neerim bowlers.
Chasing 162, the early loses of Isaac Carney (0), Ben McKenna (8) and Jesse LaFrantz (1) saw the pressure mount on the middle and lower order and remarkably just one Longwarry batsmen was able to make it double figures.
Evan Wright top-scored with 22, while ‘sxtras’ contributed another 22 – the Crows making just 65 in total.
Kelliher (4-22 off nine) did the bulk of the damage, while Cameron Law (2-5) claimed late scalps to hasten the victory along.
Holdsworth shows class
Western Park (6-271) def. Buln Buln (155): To the surprise of very few, Rhys Holdsworth struck a century in his rare foray to division three, but he was around 116 runs short of helping his team to victory as Western Park claimed a big win over the Lyrebirds.
Fielding an undermanned batting line-up in the second week of their encounter, much of the pressure fell on the shoulders of Holdsworth and true to form; he demonstrated his class and repertoire of strokes throughout.
Waiting for the bowlers to stray, Holdsworth didn’t blaze away, but rather steadily compiled his runs, with Michael Talbot (3-24 off 11), Lachlan Carroll (2-34), Jason Batson (2-25 from 15 quality overs of seam bowling), and Stephen Boltong (2-27 off nine) making life difficult for the batsmen.
Unfortunately for Holdsworth, the next highest score was just 11 for Buln and his efforts counted for naught as Western Park solidified their second position on the division three ladder.