ONLY five teams can still reach the top four on the Hamilton and District Cricket Association A grade premiership ladder after the conclusion of round 13 on Saturday.
Hamilton and St Andrew’s cannot reach the top four after being soundly defeated, but Grampians, Pigeon Ponds, College, Macarthur and Casterton District are still in contention for the Dundas Cup with one round of the home and away season to come.
Grampians started the day with 43 runs on the board, as Will Collins and Joe Sutherland began where they left off last week against St Andrew’s at Dunkeld Turf, looking to hunt down the 136 the visitors posted seven days prior.
Sitting atop the ladder, the Pumas only needed to win the match to claim a top two finish and claim hosting rights for its semi-final.
Despite the pitch having a couple of ‘dead’ patches outside the off stump at each end which caused the ball to stay down, the wicket played truly just as it had the previous week as the batsmen failed to offer the visitors any chances to claim a wicket.
Each batsman passed 50 easily as they played shots around the ground, despite Drews skipper, Simon Hatherell, rotating his bowlers quickly searching for a breakthrough.
The pair passed the required target to record a 10-wicket victory, which hasn’t been seen in A grade for many seasons and carried their partnership on to 163 when Sutherland (87) tried to lift the ball over the infield once too often, as Cameron Pither finally made the breakthrough after the team toiled away for 45 overs for the day searching for a wicket.
From there though, the Pumas batsmen failed to take advantage of the foundation handed to them by the openers, as the home side lost 9-112 from the 42 overs left after that initial wicket was taken.
Collins led from the front with 74, as he and Sutherland dominated the bowlers for 57 overs with the highest A grade partnership for the first wicket in the competition this summer.
No St Andrew’s bowler took more than two wickets, but Latham Wishart, Luke Purcell and Josh Evans toiled hard all day.
The victory puts Grampians 11.13 points clear of Pigeon Ponds on top of the ladder and should see the Pumas claim the William Hewett Trophy for the minor premiership.
College d Hamilton
COLLEGE made short work of the Hamilton batting innings, as the Eagles defended their total of 322 easily to cement their place in the top four, as the team seeks to defend the premiership it won last summer.
With seven players across the two teams backing up after a very tiring Melbourne Country Week campaign, it was always going to be tough, but Henry Bensch took career best figures as he tore the heart out of the Hamilton batting line-up.
The young opening bowler had two wickets to his credit after only four overs, as he sent Brenton Callaby (two) and country week teammate, Simon Sharrock (five), back to the pavilion to hand College the perfect start.
The Blues never recovered from being 2-7, but Tobi Cook (11), Hamish Cook (26), Robbie Cook (18) and Anthony Read (11) all reached double figures without going on to play the innings that the home side needed.
When the final wicket was snared after only 49.1 overs with only 100 on the board, Bensch had claimed 6-31 after the Blues’ last four wickets fell for only nine runs.
The loss means Hamilton sits at the bottom of the premiership ladder but it can rise up one rung if it defeats Casterton District in the last round and St Andrew’s gets beaten by Pigeon Ponds.
A last round victory for Hamilton will shape the top four, but College is set firm in third place and now has the next two weekends off with the bye in the last round, as they keep tabs on Pigeon Ponds, their expected semi-final opponents.
Macarthur d Casterton District
THE battle for the last spot in the top four was a non-event, as Macarthur defended its score of 352 from the previous weekend easily.
Casterton District handed over its fourth place on the ladder to the Demons with the loss and now must win the final game of the home and away season against Hamilton, while hoping Macarthur is defeated by Grampians to ensure a finals place.
Needing to score at five runs per over to overhaul the Demons’ tally when the day began, as Casterton District made a bright start with Ben Holmes and Oliver Foster adding 75 for the first wicket in 17 overs, before Holmes (50 from 56 balls) was trapped LBW by Michael Brilley.
It soon was compounded, as Brilley sent Kane Forbes (zero) on his way only three balls later, as Jeremy Sheehan bagged the catch offered.
Foster was joined by Carey Megaw, who was coming off a good Melbourne Country Week carnival, with the pair adding 42 for the third wicket before Foster (26) was caught short of his ground by Hamish Wortley, before Megaw (36) was bowled by Brilley to leave the visitors at 4-119.
The situation was soon dire for Casterton District, as Michael Jarrad (five) became wicket number four for Brilley after he too was trapped in front of his stumps.
The visitors never recovered, as the final eight wickets fell for 96 runs as the Demons bowlers restricted the Maroons to only 207 in reply, with Brilley claiming his second five-wicket haul of the season with 5-35.
With time still available in the day, Macarthur decided to bat a second time searching for valuable bonus points in the hunt for fourth place.
They finished on 2-75, earning an extra 0.35 points in extra bonus points.
There is now 3.28 points separating the two teams on the ladder with Macarthur ahead, and with Grampians awaiting the Demons in the last round while the Maroons must defeat Hamilton at Island Park to have any chance of playing in March.
