IT was a great weekend of cricket for Tyrendarra.

After Friday night’s Twenty20 grand final victory, they came out on Saturday and produced a mammoth total of 9-336 in their Portland and District Cricket Association clash with Gorae-Portland at Tyrendarra Recreation Reserve,

The orchestrator of their innings was Ben Menzel, who produced a dazzling knock of 111 from 157 balls - the foundation of their total.

With Menzel as the backbone, the Darras’ big hitters Jake Wilson (73 off 87 including 12 fours and a six) and captain Cam Mather (54 off 50 including eight fours and a six) were able to plunder the Go-Ports attack for plenty.

It was certainly a rough day at the office for Go-Ports in the scorching heat, with their bowlers toiling away in the heat, particularly Thomas Roberts (23 overs, 2-120), Stephen O’Brien (15 overs, 0-28) and the pick of the attack Sam Roberts (15 overs, 4-64).

They’ll now have an uphill battle to get points in this contest which has big ladder implications as these two sides are currently battling it out for third place.

Tyrendarra skipper Cam Mather said he was over the moon with his side’s batting performance, adding that it had been a great effort at a really important stage of the season.

“I thought 240 or 250 was probably a par score, with how quick the outfield is now that it’s dried up, so to get well past the 300 mark was fantastic,” he said.

“We were getting good value for our shots, but the really pleasing thing was us building partnerships… we had four very good partnerships which got us to were we needed to be.”

As for the individual effort of his veteran in Menzel, Mather said it was no surprise to see him put together a great showing.

“You know what you’re going to get from Ben, he’s a great player and he’s been great for our club,” he said.

“His efforts go beyond just the playing field, but it is great to see him perform to such a high standard.”

Tigers with noses in front

Portland Tigers made the choice to send South Portland in to bat at Cavalier Park on Saturday, in a decision which was clearly made with the intent to bowl out their opposition quickly in search of extra points.

And while the Demons got a decent start early, Jake Davies turned things squarely in the favour of the Tigers with a massive spell which saw him claim three wickets in short succession.

With additional help from Will Hardie and Joel Hollis, the Tigers had South on the ropes at 5-55.

However, South skipper Mitch Arnold was not going to let his side role over easily, producing a valiant knock of 55 while wickets continued to fall at the other end.

He was joined at the crease by Shaun Lench with the side at 8-80, however the pair dug in to push the score past three figures, with Lench’s knock of 30 helping get the side all the way to 145 before the final wicket fell.

In reply, the Tigers were able to get to stumps mostly unscathed, although Arnold claiming the wicket of Nik Oakley towards the end will give the Demons something to build on.

Still, with the Tigers needing a further 121 runs for victory with 80 overs to bat, they’ll head into next week as deserved favourites to take home the points.

B grade results

South Portland earned themselves a comfortable win over Gorae-Portland in their clash at Flinders Park on Saturday, with the headliner being Troy Warburton’s 5-12 along with 3-15 from Ray Hastings which saw Go-Ports bowled out for 81.

Hastings was again in the thick of things with the bat, making 27 as his side made the required runs with five wickets and 10 overs to spare.

Portland Colts earned a thumping win over Tyrendarra thanks to big half centuries to Geoff Blackmore (66) and Luke Andrews (52 not out).

Colts ultimately posted a total of 4-199 from their 40 overs, which the Darras were more than 100 at the completion of their innings.

Drumborg-Heywood proved too good for Portland Tigers in Heywood on Saturday, as Steve Lovett (4-24), Taine Morris (3-30) and Matt Rowney (2-14) wreaked havoc on the Tigers’ batting line-up.

The Tigers were able to reach a defensible total of 86 thanks to a big knock of 33 to Toby Oakley, but ultimately Drumborg-Heywood were able to get to their target with overs and wickets to spare.