Final day to decide top-four make-up

Six cheap wickets at Dimboola and faith in a Horsham Saints bowling attack to finish the job against Laharum are atop a wish list for Jung Tigers cricketers chasing an 11th-hour bid to play in finals.

The Tigers sit only one point outside the top four behind vulnerable Laharum in Horsham association’s A Grade competition.

A last-minute leap-frog over the Mountain Men will depend on what happens on Saturday.

The Tigers are gripped in a tight battle with Blackheath-dimboola at Dimboola after struggling to post a competitive score against a team desperate to finish the season with a win.

The young Bulls bowled the Tigers out for 139 in the two-day clash, sending shockwaves through the visiting team, only to then run into experienced new-ball campaigner David Puls.

Blackheath-dimboola will resume its chase at 4-59, needing only 81 more runs to throw a spanner in the works of its fancied opponent.

David Elliott, 17, and Trent Mcgough, 14, are unbeaten at the crease and will face up to Puls who already has 4-16.

Earlier in the game, Elliot Braithwaite, 4-42, Ash Avery and Harry Young, 2-7, bowled their team into the contest, while an unbeaten 47 from Marty Knight put the Tigers ship back on course.

Laharum of course can take the equation out of Jung Tigers’ hands if it can spend a full day at the crease at Cornell Park and accumulate the 268 needed to topple Horsham Saints.

Laharum did plenty of work in favourable bowling conditions to at one stage have the Saints reeling 6-77, courtesy of Daniel Griffiths, 4-48, and Heath Macinnes, 3-75.

But saving runs and solid partnerships down the list resurrected the Saints’ cause.

Josh Hedt top-scored with 81, Craig Klemm clipped 45 and Tim Braendler made 40.

While the finals intrigue was unfolding at Dimboola and Cornell Park, runs were flowing aplenty for Homers batsmen at Horsham Sunnyside.

Leading the charge is the Pigeons, posting 4-304 against Rupanyup-minyip, and priming himself for a big finals campaign was second drop Jarred Combe.

Combe made a sparkling 138 in a knock featuring 11 fours and three sixes.

He had handy allies in Sandy Hodge, 68, and Chris Hopper, 53, retired hurt.

Rupanyup-minyip now faces a mighty task of chasing down a hefty target.