COLLEGE has assumed favouritism for the Dundas Cup after a stunning defeat of Hamilton to all but secure a top two ladder finish and an all-important home A grade semi-final in the Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA).

These two teams entered Saturday’s match as the top two teams in the competition with each looking to land a decisive blow to the other with the finals only three weeks away.

Notorious for wanting to bat second, each team would have wanted to win the toss but the coin fell in favour of the visitors, as Hamilton were sent to bat first on Dahl Turf.

Anthony Read strode to the wicket with Simon Sharrock (his sixth different opening partner and the eighth different combination that Hamilton has tried at the top of the order this season), looking to get the home side away to a solid fast start.

Sharrock is a player that loves to play his shots and his promotion up the order could only have been to attack the new ball bowlers and to an extent it worked.

The only flaw in the carrying out of the plan was that Read (four) fell cheaply in the second over after Henry Bensch was handed the new ball in Jason Schmidt’s absence.

With that early blow, Hamilton had the team’s best two stroke makers at the crease in Sharrock and Tobi Cook and the pair continued their good form they carried into the match.

They added 52 for the second wicket before Cook (22) was well caught by Lachie Watt to hand Lachie Brown his first wicket of the day.

Brown was only warming up though, as he cut a swathe through the order with a fine spell that saw him go on to dismiss Sharrock (33), Mick Ross (five), Tyler Ellis (four) and Hamish Cook (zero), to claim 5-18 from seven overs to decimate the innings.

Hamilton had collapsed from 1-59 to be 6-80 and in trouble of being routed, but Hamilton skipper, Brandon Weatherson (23), helped the tail add a further 63 runs for the last four wickets to see the home side finish all out for 143.

A valuable bonus point was on offer for both teams if they performed well in the second innings with Hamilton needing to restrict College to 114 or less, while College needed to amass the runs required in 36 overs or less to claim the extra point.

College skipper, Charles Murrie, was in no mood to allow Hamilton back into the match, as he quickly attacked the bowlers by striking two boundaries and two maximums from the first four overs, but it was his opening partner, Heath Schmidt, who would fall first for six runs, as Sharrock held onto a good catch to give Daniel Jones the first wicket.

This brought Jack Austin to the wicket at number three, as he watched Murrie (22) fall to Jones after being tied down for a period and his frustration got the better of him.

College was still in a strong position at 2-45, but Austin had been joined by Hamish Bailey who would guide the youngster through his innings.

Austin (23) added 36 with Bailey before failing to get over the top of a ball from Hamish Kearney and Anthony Read held the catch offered, with Kane Uebergang (four) coming and going only four runs later.

Hamilton was soon back in the contest at 4-85 at the end of the 20th over.

From that point, the Eagles never lost control as Bailey raised his bat for a run-a-ball 53 before falling only six runs shy of the target, as Adrian Burn continued to show form by adding an unbeaten 20, as the match ended well inside the 36-over mark.

Ponds remain in finals hunt

PIGEON Ponds have kept its finals aspirations alive with a dominant victory against Grampians at home.

Peter Staude is another captain that likes to chase a target and he followed the same path after winning the toss, asking the visitors to bat first.

With Pumas skipper, Will Collins, taking guard for the first ball against Murray Staude, Collins needed his opening partner, Matt Read, to hang around and build a solid foundation for the innings to come.

It wasn’t to be though, as Read was bowled by Murray with the first ball of his second over for a duck, even though there were 13 runs on the board.

This was thanks to some wayward bowling from Simon Close, who sent down a couple of wides (one which went to the fence for a five) and a no ball in a nine-ball first over.

Murray had a second scalp soon after, as Josh Gordon (six) failed to carry his good batting form into this match and the visitors were 2-21 after only five overs.

The skipper needed a partner to stay with him and he found one in Zach Burgess, as the pair began the rescue operation for the Pumas.

The pair played brilliantly, turning the strike over to each other seemingly at will and still struck the bad balls to the fence.

They saw off Murray and Close and then they played through the bowling of Aiden Sutherland and Hamish McCrae to each record fine half centuries as the milestones came and went.

They added 127 for the third wicket (the highest partnership for the season and only the second century stand of the summer for team) in a great display of batting, which finally ended when Burgess (55) was caught by Simon Close to hand Hugh Douglas his first wicket of the match.

When Burgess fell, there were 13 overs to deliver and Grampians had 3-148 on the board.

Collins ended his 144-minute stay at the wicket when he was bowled by Murray, but he had posted 76 against his name in the book and must have been disappointed he couldn’t go on to reach another milestone.

Tom Polkinghorne returned to form with 44-not-out, while Ty Gilmore (18) was quick to attack the few balls he faced.

Grampians ended its allotted overs on 6-234 and was well placed going into the second half of the match.

Murray and Douglas grabbed three wickets apiece to lead the way for the home side, while the three no balls and 22 wides must have frustrated the Ponds supporters.

Close and Peter began the chase with a sedate start, as Josh Gordon and Stefan Burnell opened the attack for the visitors.

It wasn’t until Burnell’s second over that the board began to move forward, as Peter took 11 runs from it to kick start the chase.

Gordon bowled well with the new ball but was taken from the attack after only three overs after Peter took his last two balls for boundaries.

The 50-run partnership was brought up at run-a-ball pace, before it all came to an end when the Ponds skipper was bowled by Burnell for 25 with 54 on the board in the 10th over.

Douglas joined Close in the middle and he was more than happy to knock the ball around and give the strike to his partner, as the pair took the score along to 1-145 at the drinks break.

They took their partnership to 122 before Douglas (34) was caught by Joe Sutherland to hand Polkinghorne the much-needed breakthrough.

That would be the last success that the Pumas would celebrate, as Anthony Close (28-not-out) joined his brother to knock off the required runs.

The day belonged to Simon, who registered his second century of the summer with 121-not-out.

If the target had been reached inside 36 overs, then Ponds would have recorded a bonus point, but they fell agonisingly short by 11 balls.

Drews win to stay in four

ST Andrew’s remains strongly in contention for a final four finish after another convincing victory against Casterton District.

The Drews are tough side to defeat at any venue, but at home at Clem Young Oval, they typically become even harder to defeat and it surprised that Maroons stand-in skipper, Rick Killey, sent the home side in to bat after he won the coin toss.

The pitch was straw coloured and well grassed, but it looked full of runs and the visitors would have to bowl well if they were to keep the score to a manageable level.

Brendan Huf and Jordan Van Dooren opened the innings and they watched carefully, as Matt and Rick Killey opened the attack for Casterton.

The ball did react off the surface but that was to be expected with a new ball where the seam is standing tall and should grab the grass.

Both batsmen looked in form and Van Dooren in particular was quick to pounce on a couple of bouncers that sat up and sent them to the boundary.

There was no hurry about scoring quickly, as the batsmen set about building a foundation and the first wicket fell in the 10th over when Van Dooren (10) was bowled by Rick, who was in the middle of a very economical spell.

This brought Darryl Fry to the wicket to join Huf and he settled well.

His driving especially was a feature of his innings and if he was batting at a different venue, he may well have posted three figures such was the impact that the outfield had on the progress of the ball across the ground.

The pair saw the side through to the drinks break with 79 on the board and they had given themselves and the team the perfect platform from which to attack in the second half of the innings.

Both players registered half centuries and looked likely to bat out the allotted overs, but after a stay of just a tick past two hours, Fry (57) was trapped in front of his stumps LBW by Matt, as he looked to attack in the final overs.

At the other end, Huf calmly continued to score and he registered his 19th A grade century for St Andrews and his 24th overall with the last ball he faced.

His knock included only eight boundaries and there were only twelve for the entire innings.

The final score of 2-190 looked to be attainable, but the Casterton District batsmen would have to bat extremely well to hunt down the target.

Ben Holmes (six) and Rick (18) added 25 for the first wicket to set up a good start for the visitors and then Mick Jarrad (23) and Rick took the score to 60 before the collapse came.

Casterton would lose eight wickets for only 35 runs, as the batsmen failed to put any pressure on the St Andrew’s bowlers.

Jacob Hill was outstanding with the ball, tying down the batsmen and allowing only 18 runs from his allotted overs, which included the wickets of Jarrad and Killey in the same over.

While the visitors did bat out their allotted overs, they only posted 95 runs.