MT CLEAR showed it is a force to be reckoned with, defeating Ballarat Cricket Association first grade top side East Ballarat by nine wickets.
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Skipper Darcy Thomson said it was important for his group to claim the scalp of a top team, and square the ledger from when the Hawks beat it in this season’s twenty20 fixture.
The Mounties certainly did that.
A commanding bowling display led by Tim Griffith, who took 4-13 from 10 overs, amazingly 6 of those runs came from wides, and Ash George with 1-17 from his 10 overs saw East Ballarat end its 50 overs at 8-124.
With the bat, Nathan Yates (67 runs off 70 balls) and Brendan Moyle (42 off 105) made sure Mt Clear cruised to victory, passing the total one down in the 30th over.
Thomson said pre-game it was time to let their actions do the talking.
“We spoke about it at the start of the day, we had to stop saying we were actually a good side and put a performance out there,” Thomson said.
“We scratched across the line in a couple of games...we had to put some action out there and let our playing do the talking.
“They smashed us in the twenty20, so we really wanted to get one back at them. We wanted to put in a good performance against a good side and I think we really did that.”
Thomson praised the efforts of his bowlers and batsmen, particularly the outstanding partnership between Moyle and Yates.
“It was a clinical performance by those two.
“They hit the bad ball then just made sure they got off strike when they could. That’s one thing we’ve been working on, rotating the strike.
“We can all hit the bad ball, but it’s those good balls where you still need to rotate and not let the pressure build up.”
The victory draws Mt Clear to within four points of ladder leader East Ballarat. The Hawks outright victory over Napoleons-Sebastopol earlier in the season ensuring it has a handy four point buffer despite both teams having eight wins.
The Ballarat Cricket Association will now break for Christmas and return on January 12 for a one-day match before red ball cricket takes over.
BALLARAT-REDAN enjoyed a breakthrough victory over finals contender Buninyong on Saturday.
The Bunnies entered the round in fourth position as Two Swords searched for their third victory of the season.
Buninyong won the toss and sent Ballarat-Redan into bat, skipper Jayden Hayes said the side wanted 180-200 runs, which is got – setting the Bunnies 193 for victory.
Two Swords successfully defended its total of 9-192, Hayes top-scoring with 48 runs, they then bowled out Buninyong for 178, striking early to have the Bunnies reeling at 6-52.
Hayes topped the wickets column with 4-55, but it was the tight bowling of Brendan Thomson and Simon Allan that proved critical, both taking 2-22 from 10 overs.
Hayes said the result was reward for some more consistent efforts of late.
“We’ve been pretty close the last few weeks,” Hayes said.
“We knew once we got that (total) we were a chance.
“We’ve been in most games, it’s just been our batting that has let us down a couple of times...if we can keep working on that I think we’re going to be close in a lot of games after Christmas.”
For Buninyong the loss could prove immensely costly. It slips down to fifth position on the ladder, one of four teams sitting on five wins.
GOLDEN Point ended Darley’s winning run, taking home a 49-run victory.
Simon Ogilvie (93 off 63) and Josh White (89 off 131) were huge, putting on 156 runs and helping the side to 3-257 after 50 overs.
White then took 4-40 with the ball while Daniel McDonald claimed 3-31 as the Lions were all out for 208.
Darley had previously won four games on the trot, Saturday’s result puts it in eighth spot on the ladder and the Pointies two games clear in third.
NORTH Ballarat prevailed in a tight hit-out against Napoleons-Sebastopol.
Naps-Sebas set North just 128 runs for victory, after being bowled out in the 45th over. Connor Miles came on late to take 4-22 while Adam Eddy (3-27 off 10 overs), Ash McCafferty (2-18 off eight) and Jason Crosbie (0-16 off five) were all extremely economical.
North Ballarat passed the total with two wickets to spare, interestingly in exactly the same amount of balls as Naps-Sebas faced.
Adam McDermott did his best to haul Naps-Sebas over the line, he took 4-44 from his 10 overs.
North had seven players to reach double figures, but none could go beyond 23 runs, Leigh Lorenzen top-scoring with 23.
North Ballarat is now only percentage outside the top four.
WENDOUREE landed an important 62-run win over fellow top four contender Brown Hill.
The victory sees the Red Caps jump into fourth position on the ladder, aided by Buninyong’s unexpected loss to Ballarat-Redan.
Gavin Webb made an unbeaten 80 while Heath Pyke hit 51 runs, the pair putting on a valuable 96-run partnership to guide the side to 4-221. The Bulls were then dismissed for 159, Paul White doing his best for the side with an unbeaten 81. Ryan Simmonds (3-24) and John Butler (3-40) each took three wickets to lead the attack. For Brown Hill, it beat Wendouree in the recent twenty20, but it could not repeat that feat.
The Bulls have now lost five of their past six matches and has slipped back to seventh on the ladder.
After a stunning start to the season, which saw Brown Hill win its opening four matches of the season, it has well and truly fallen back to the pack. Despite the disappointing run, overall, the season to date is still a step forward for the club.
