Pomonal upset

Pomonal’s goal of finishing in the top two at Grampians Cricket Association’s season end received a setback at the weekend when it unexpectedly lost to Combine2 at North Park, Stawell.

The Tigers cause was not helped by only putting nine players on the field.

Batting first, the Combine notched up 3-152 thanks to an opening stand of 113 between Craig Marrow, 69, and Matt Delzotto, 59.

In reply, the Tigers could only put together 112, mainly due to the smart bowling of Gary Ranton, 4-15, and Marc Collins, 3-13.

With this loss, the Tigers have slipped from second to fourth.

Other matches went to form, with the Gappers cruising to a nine wicket win against Rhymston2. Gappers bowler Caleb Bretherton took 3-9 to be the best bowler.

Rhymston1 suffered a similar defeat at the hands of the Saints, being beaten by seven wickets.

In the remaining game, at Buangor, Chalambar batters could only manage 101 against Combine1’s attack, led by Will Clough, 3-14.

The Combine took just 18 overs to run down the score, with Tom Eckel contributing 56 out of the 105.

The feature match this Saturday is the Halls Gap verse Rhymston1 clash, at Halls Gap. The Gappers would see this as a chance to cement their position in the top four and an A Grade finals berth, while Rhymston1 will treat it as a last chance to keep in touch with the final four.

Rhymston1’s batting was abysmal last round and will require a turnaround if it is to put any pressure on the Gappers, who boast a solid batting list.

Pomonal has the chance to bounce back after last round’s disappointing result by defeating Rhymston2, whose record against the Tigers is not great.

The Tigers will be hoping to regain players missing from last week’s game and produce a match-winning score.

Chalambar’s batting let it down last week, so will be counting on improvement to counter the Saints’ powerful batting list featuring Tom Mills, Wian Steers and Adam Haslett, among other capable batters.

It should also be an interesting match at North Park, where the two Combine teams face off.

Both teams should know each other’s strengths and weakness, but the Swiftsgreat Western selectors will be left redfaced if the number two team prevails. Results: Halls Gap 1-75 d Rhymneymoyston2 10-65; Swifts-great Western2 3-152 d Pomonal 8-112; Swifts-great Western1 3-105 d Chalambar 10-101; St Andrews 3-58 d Rhymney-moyston1 10-53.