Titans in race to avoid outright

Advantage Hawks

Warragul (132) vs. Drouin (1-55): Paul Bridges-Black was again the star with the bat for Warragul but even his best efforts couldn’t stop Drouin from holding the advantage on day one of their division two encounter, with the Hawks requiring just 78 more runs for victory.

Striding to the crease with the scoreboard reading 3-24, Bridges-Black sent two massive hits over the boundary in his knock of 40, but apart from a handy knock of 23* from Jack Buckingham down the order there was little assistance for the Gulls all-rounder.

With Jackson Caddy (5-27) and Regan Hodge (3-19) in fine form with the ball Warragul could only post 132 before being dismissed in the 53rd over.

Left with 14 overs to face, Justin Vanderzalm (27*) and Bailey Ossewyer (24) wasted little time settling before attacking the bowlers, and they helped advance the Hawks to 1-55 at stumps.

Imposing total

Neerim District (9-241) vs. Jindivick: A gritty knock of 84 to Rhys George has helped Neerim District post an imposing total in their clash with Jindivick, with the youngster’s anchoring innings ensuring that the Jumping Jacks will need to be at their best to claim first-innings points.

Jindivick would no doubt have been pleased to remove Jack Ward early in the day for just six – a rare blip in a season of otherwise impressive scores – and with Nathan Bayne also out early there was some worry about where the runs might come from for the Stags.

However, Warren Darcy (48) and Aaron Fawcett (41) combined with George to boost Neerim District’s scoring and they finished the day at 9-241.

Caleb Boswell claimed 4-65 from his 16 over to be the pick of the attack for Jindivick, while Sayeed Shah (2-40) and Christian Stacey (2-47 from 12) were also successful.

For more cricket, turn to pages 53 and 54.