Ellinbank unleash assault
Fox takes five
Drouin (182) vs. Hallora: A five-wicket haul to Steven Fox has helped Hallora to restrict Drouin to a middling total in their division two clash; his second successive five-wicket bag and third of the summer.
After being sent into bat, Drouin began cautiously against the new-ball pairing of Thomas Kent and Jai Serong, with Daniel Burke and Bailey Osseweyer adding 38 for the first wicket.
Rhys Fairlie (20) and Wade Crawford (a wellmade 42) continued the steady accumulation of runs, but from a position of power at 2-107 the Hawks fell away against some tidy bowling.
Fox extracted enough movement off the Halloran pitch to cause constant headaches for the Drouin batsmen, and his haul of 5-45 helped the Kangaroos to trigger a collapse of 8-75 that saw the Hawks dismissed for 182.
Grant Duncan (3-46 from 16) was again excellent in support, with his removal of Crawford – enticing the batsmen out of his crease for Diston to whip the bails off – a key moment in the day.
Warriors restricted
Western Park (3-72) vs. Neerim District: Just 24.3 overs of play were possible between Western Park and Neerim District, although the Stags would be encouraged with their performance with the ball, restricting the Warriors to 3-72 before play was called off for the afternoon.
Kim Drew (35 from just 26 balls) was aggressive early on for Western Park, and he combined with Jack Barnes for a 51-run opening stand.
However, the introduction of Marc Tymkin into the attack proved to be a stroke of genius, with the seamer claiming the scalps of Drew, Jack Barnes (16 from 63) and Sam McMillan (4) in quick succession.
This left Adam Feltham (3*) and Luke Gilbert (10*) to steady the ship before play was called off. Tymkin finished with 3-20 from his seven overs.