COMING into the second day of the clash between Portland Colts and South Portland at Henty Park on Saturday, it looked as though the Demons had the upper hand, with just over 100 runs needed with nine wickets in hand and 80 overs to bat.

But Colts put paid to that assessment almost immediately, when they put together a devastating display of bowling to see their opposition crumble from 1-62 at the start of play to all out for 81 just 21.1 overs later.

It was Colts captain Luke Evans who did the bulk of the damage, claiming 6-18 from 15 overs including six maidens, as he bowled almost without rest for South’s entire innings.

Damien Bell also chimed in with a handy 3-19 off 6.1 overs, as only one South batsman managed to last even 20 balls.

From there, the race was on for the outright win, with Colts heading in to bat with a mind to pummel their opposition’s attack for as many runs as possible as quickly as possible.

Glenn Hollis (47 not out) and Matthew Payne (30 off 32 deliveries) did the bulk of the damage, with Colts eventually declaring at 2-88 off just 13 overs, giving themselves 42 overs to bowl their opposition out with a lead of 172.

While the Demons’ batting line-up did a solid job to limit wickets early, Colts continued to chip away, and when Payne claimed his third wicket of the innings, Colts needed just a further two wickets for the outright win with just over six overs remaining.

However, batting partners Eamon Drew and Robert Siemon held their nerve throughout the final moments, blocking out a desperate Colts bowling attack and preventing them from claiming the extra points.

Payne finished with exceptional figures of 3-4 from his six overs, while Bell added a further two wickets to his tally for the afternoon and finishing with figures of 2-19 off eight overs.

Despite the disappointment of not earning the outright win, Colts will still be very pleased with a performance which was good enough to earn them top spot on the ladder heading into Christmas by virtue of second innings bonus points.

It leaves them in what is becoming a two-horse race with Portland Tigers for the top spot and a first-round bye come finals time, with the teams both almost 20 points clear of the competition.

Evans was extremely happy with his side’s performance backing up after what was a rough finish to day one last weekend.

“Obviously we didn’t finish as well as we would’ve liked to on day one… but I was still pretty confident we had the bowling attack to bowl them out,” he said.

“We probably didn’t expect to bowl them out that quickly, but we were on from the start… held our catches and bowled some great areas.

“We had 42 overs to bowl them out again and fell one short which was disappointing… but if you gave me that scenario at the start of the day, I would’ve taken it 10 times out of 10.”

As for the broader context of the season, Evans said the result is another sign that his team his hitting their stride.

“We had a bit of a slow start to the year… but to now have won four on the trot, we’re look like we’re hitting our straps and hopefully that can continue after Christmas.”