Panthers pull off incredible upset
Division one
Yarragon v Ellinbank
The boilover of the young season occurred at Yarragon on the weekend, as the unfancied Panthers upset the reigning premiers.
Losing the toss and sent into bat, the home side were in trouble early as Amandeep Singh fell for a duck. Star man Lahiru Jayakody and young gun Liam Smith-Butterworth were on hand to turn the tide however, as the pair added 58 in relatively quick time to build Yarragon's hope of a victory.
Smith-Butterworth (23) fell at an untimely point, however Jayakody (48) pushed the score to 100, as he and fellow Sri Lankan Kasun Ranasinghe looked in damaging touch.
The loss of Jayakody showed where Yarragon's deficiencies lie - as from 2-100, only Ranasinghe (49) was able to put any pressure on the experienced Eagle attack - none of the remaining batsmen made it to five as a slew of run-outs, as well as some quality death bowling from Jeremy Gray (3-16) and Sean Masterson (2-32) reduced the Panthers to just 9-136 off their allotted overs.
In reply, the best chasers in the league would have been expecting an easy time of it, and perhaps an early finish as they looked to feast on an inexperienced Yarragon bowling attack. However, things did not go as planned for the visitors, as Jayakody (3-19) and Laytten Smith (2-14) wreaked havoc with the new ball.
Once the key wicket of Nick Fairbank (18) fell, the game was truly flipped, with Ellinbank limping to 7-73 as the overs dwindled. Sean Masterson (29*) held the innings together but was unable to strike a boundary in 71 deliveries as Jake Green (3-25) and Smith-Butterworth (2-23) provided two spells out of the box.
A late flurry aside, Ellinbank were simply outplayed, as Yarragon strangled the lower-order into submission, Ellinbank falling to 104 all out and the season already flipped on its head.
Neerim District v Western Park
This reporter's prediction of a potential ladder slide for Western Park is beginning to age like milk, with the rampant Parkers staking their claim for premiership favouritism thanks to an utter demolition of a depleted Neerim side.
Winning the toss and bowling, the Warriors showed there was a clear mismatch of talent early, and despite a 16-run opening stand from Jack Ward and Pat Sheehan, the Stags were always behind the eight-ball.
Jason Croft showed why he is the wet-weather specialist with the ball, as his first wicket of Sheehan set of a chain reaction that was barely believable - the veteran tweaker claimed 5-12 as carnage rained at the Neerim recreation reserve.
Jack Ward (12) and Liam Garlick-Adams (10) were the only Neerim batsmen to put a fight against the ensuing onslaught, with Croft and Tyler McDonald (2-6) the best with the ball as Neerim were all out for a pitiful 35, the last 10 wickets falling for just 19 runs.
With storm clouds brewing, the visitors were keen to chase the score in quick time, however they lost Leigh Diston on the second ball in his send-off game, to put a slight damper on proceedings. From here though it was all Western Park as Sam Batson (24*) made sure the job was done inside five overs, as his side rocketed to the top of the ladder.
Hallora v Drouin
Hallora and Drouin drew without playing due to poor weather.
Longwarry v Catani
Longwarry and Catani drew without playing due to poor weather.