Kumara masterclass sees Yarragon home
In a match with potential finals ramifications, Yarragon continued its brilliant form to keep its one-day final chances firmly alive.
Winning the toss and batting, the Panthers commenced poorly with Lasi Amaroosyria gone early to leave Yarragon in an early hole.
Fortunately for them, this brought Gamini Kumara to the crease and the legendary Yarragon batsman made Drouin feel the brunt of his class. First, he added 57 crucial runs with Jake Borsato (19), who was smartly stumped off the bowling of Mitch Smith (129). Next, Kumara found slight support in Lahiru Jayakody (16), although Sam Van Der Zalm removed the dangerous middle-order batsman before he could really get going.
With the score on 94, the match was well and truly in the balance. The defining moment was to come when Nuwan Perera began his innings, as he and good friend Kumara batted superbly to put an exclamation point on Yarragon's innings.
Kumara's natural acceleration was complemented by Perera's typical aggressive strokeplay, the duo added 77 before Perera (34) was dismissed, shortly followed by Kumara (95) who fell just short of another century.
Ash Smith (20) added handy runs at the end as Yarragon made an imposing 6-210; a total that would put them firmly in the top three.
In reply, Drouin found runs in two who made ducks last week, with Damon Healy (38) and Sam Wyatt (30) providing a strong foundation for the innings. .
Gamini Kumara (4-30) was once again in the thick of the action, he and Amaroosyria (2-18) annihilating Drouin's middle-order to railroad any chance of Drouin victory. A late partnership lead by Mitch Smith (21*) made the scoreboard look a little better, but ultimately Drouin was outclassed and fell 34 runs short.
A masterful century from Fraser Duncan secured Hallora's place in the one-day final.
Winning the toss and batting at Buln, Hallora looked to supplement its excellent bowling performances this season with a strong total as Malinga Surappulige and Duncan provided the goods.
The pair got off to a slow start, as Paul Bridges-Black (0-15) and Sam Reid (1-33) bowled well in the opening powerplay.
Surappulige then began to open up the arms, swinging in brutal fashion, as he dominated Buln's change bowlers; the lack of variety proving to be the home side's downfall as the Sri Lankan blasted three sixes. Duncan continued his support from the other end in his typical, no-nonsense fashion; the pair adding the highest partnership of the season so far, with Surappulige falling agonisingly short of a century. He was removed by Reid for 91.
With the score on 158, the 'Roos were afforded the luxury of elevating Natsai M'Shangwe up the order and the Zimbabwean paid dividends, launching balls to all parts on his way to 33, before being removed late.
Meanwhile, Duncan continued his subtle onslaught, making another terrific century. He batted through the innings for 108 not out, Hallora making an unbeatable 2-241.
In reply, Buln's potent batting didn’t fire the scoreboard pressure proving too much for Jack Armour (6) and Wilson Pollock (0). Ben O'Keefe (1) was the next to fall, before Buln's chances were fully snuffed out as Brent Eastwell (8) fell victim to skipper James Williams.
Matt Mitchell (41) showed his class, adding a handy partnership with Harry Wans (16), who continues to show promise.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kam Collins (12) finally found a touch of form as the game dwindled out, with Aidan Phillips (4-24) and Natsai M'Shangwe (3-16) doing the job for the top side, routing the Lyrebirds for just 123 to affirm their status as premiership favourites.
Neerim District closed the gap on the top four, accounting for bottom of the ladder Garfield-Tynong.
Winning the toss and bowling, the Stags were brutal early, as Dane Fawcett (3-16) had a field day with the new ball to reduce the Titans to 4-43. Nick Bransgrove (21) attempted to rebuild the innings with his best performance of the season, as he and Tate Burgmann attempted to repel Neerim's attack.
In reply, the Stags' opening pair delivered again. The in-form Rhys George continues to deliver on the promise he has shown, while fellow keeper Nathan Bayne played a vital supporting hand. The pair saw off the likes of AP Rangajith and AK Tyrone to snuff out any sort of momentum the away side could generate, adding 82 for the first wicket before Bayne (40) was run-out.
Steven Shields (2-28) made the most of his opportunity with the ball as the innings wore on, removing Ash Lockett and Aaron Fawcett in quick succession, before George (50) fell to give Garfield-Tynong a chance.
Luckily for the home side, Wilson (18*) secured a man-of-the-match performance, willing his side home with five wickets to spare to resign Garfield-Tynong to a potential wooden spoon.
Western Park lost its first home-and-away match on the new turf ground, as Ellinbank pushed into the top four with a sensational performance.
Winning the toss and bowling, Western Park was on-song early in bowler friendly conditions, with Troy Ferguson (4) dismissed quickly.
Leigh Diston decided to put his tumultuous week behind him. The fiery red-head sparked the Warriors into action with three wickets in four balls, sending Daniel Pandolfo (8), the cruelly out-of-luck Ben Spicer (0) and Nick Fairbank (0) back to the pavilion to swing the match into the favour of the hosts.
Matt Farthing and Sean Masterson looked to rebuild the innings; the pair surviving early chances to make Western Park pay as they pushed the score to 93 before the dismissal of Masterson (29). Farthing continued with his outstanding form across the past 18 months at the top of the order, batting through the innings as wickets fell around him.
Diston (4-23) and Sam Batson (4-30) cleaned up from the other end with only the strong-willed Farthing to cope, as he finished on a match-defining 72 not-out. Ellinbank, in turn, made a defendable 9-152, a score Western Park was yet to make all season.
In response, Asa Singappuli (26) hit the ball hard early, but the innings got incredibly bogged down through the middle - Gihan De Zoysa (3-18) proving far too hot to handle for the batsmen.
Leigh Diston (22) copped similar luck to Spicer, while Daniel Sheehan (22) attempted to keep the innings alive. However, too much was left on the latter batsmen as Jack Pandolfo (2-13) and Sean Masterson (3-42) secured a brilliant victory for the visitors.
In the end, Western Park lost 7-47, and were all out for 125, dropping to third as Ellinbank catapulted themselves into the top four.