Ky Fire Brigade inflicted Rushworth’s second loss in its last three games when it dismissed the visitors for 104 in 37 overs, chasing the home team’s 7-146.
Young Brigade openers Oscar Carver and Nick Smart each made a patient 40 and Matt Owen (34) and Trevor Watts (20) provided the bulk of the winning Brigade tally.
Shannon Jarrett, with 3-29 off eight overs was the most successful bowler for Rushworth, with opener Tom Stevens being the standout for the visitors with the bat, scoring 44.
Veteran Jarrod Chapman did the most damage with the ball, taking 3-12 off eight overs, while Steve Grima picked up two wickets for the Brigade.
Stanhope won a tight clash with BLU, with its top-order batters Matt Evans (36), Craig Emmett (35), Jonathan Pearson (27 not out) and skipper Brad Stewart (23) setting up their team’s winning score of 3-144.
In reply, BLU was restricted to 143, with Lucas Holgate’s innings of 61 off 61 balls the highlight of BLU’s efforts.
Luke Twynstra, with 4-29 off eight overs, took the bowling honours for Stanhope.
Echuca took only 7.3 overs to round up Colbinabbin’s score of 8-52, with Adam McPhee making 21. The Carlile boys, Archer and Rory, claimed five wickets between them.
Moama also had a quick kill, taking 13.5 overs to cover Elmore’s score of 89.
B-GRADE (Murray)
Ladder leader Cooma knocked Leitchville-Gunbower over for 86 and chased down the target in 21 overs for the loss of three wickets, with Russ Napier (23 not out) and Hunter Fawcett (29 not out) clinching the win for their side.
Rochester’s 8-185 proved out of reach for the Girgarre batters, who came up 20 runs short in their run chase despite the efforts of Charlie Lowe (41), Billy Gahan (40), Simon Tomasini (37) and Leigh Kempinski (28), who looked on course to deliver a Girgarre win earlier in the innings.
But its last six batters could muster only 10 runs between them, with Jig Vaghela producing a destructive, match-winning spell of 5-25 off 7.5 overs.
Moama’s score of 9-205, highlighted by 80 from opener James Simpson, proved out of reach for the Echuca South batters, who were dismissed for 147. Finn Murphy’s 4-22 off 5.4 overs caused the most damage.
C-GRADE
Glen Moroney made 83 in Rochester’s winning score of 7-180 against Ky Fire Brigade, with Dan Mott taking 3-34 for the Flames.
In reply, Fire Brigade could muster only 102, with Brodie Boal-Ryan’s 36 the only worthwhile contribution against the varied Lancaster attack led by Hareesh Kilaru, who took 3-7 off five overs.
BLU’s batters were equal to the challenge of chasing down Stanhope’s competitive score of 9-206, answering with 5-217.
This included a dashing unbeaten innings of 123 off 78 balls, with 12 fours and five sixes, by opener Adrian Flett.
Stanhope openers Dylan Morris and Shannon McMaster-Kinnear scored half-centuries to give their side a positive start in its run chase, which proved in vain.
D-GRADE
Openers Peter Raglus and Declan Baldwin posted unbeaten half-centuries as Rushworth covered Stanhope’s score of 6-142, in which Kian Verrall made a half-century, in 23.1 overs.
Baldwin, who took Brett Pateman’s place at the top of the batting order, cracked 10 fours, and Raglus hit nine boundaries in their match-winning knocks, which kept their side on top of the ladder.
Moama’s 1-135 secured it the premiership points against BLU, which was bowled out for 130 in 35.2 overs.
Openers Scott McCallum (Moama) and Matt Hamilton (BLU) made half-centuries for their teams.
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