THEY didn’t do it as easily as they would have liked to, but nonetheless Portland Tigers managed to get a win over South Portland in the Portland and District Cricket Association on Saturday, getting home thanks to a huge eighth-wicket partnership.

The Demons got on top early on the second day of the two-day fixture, with Rory Barry claiming the wicket of Michael Blomeley to trigger a handful of wickets in short order, with the Tigers stumbling from 1-25 overnight to 7-64, with Barry and Mitch Arnold each claiming two more, while Thomas Drew took one wicket.

At that point, chasing 147, victory looked a long way off.

It was at this juncture that the classiness of Tigers star batsman Will Hardie came to the fore, as he, along with Joel Hollis, managed to pull the momentum back in favour of their side, as they put on 92 runs for the eighth wicket to see their side home.

Hardie (71) continued his fine form with the willow producing his best innings of the season so far, while Hollis (33) revelled in his first genuine opportunity at the crease.

Jake Davies (34 off 35) came in for some late fireworks as he belted six boundaries, with the Tigers eventually all out for 216.

Arnold finished with his side’s best figures of 4-43 from 16.2 overs, while Barry (3-43 from 13), Hamish Drew (2-23 from seven) and Thomas Drew (1-11) were the other bowlers in the wickets.

South were subsequently sent out to bat for the second time, with the Tigers a long shot to produce an improbable outright victory.

It became slightly less improbable when Charlie Harvey and Davies struck three times inside three overs to have the Demons languishing at 3-9, and while the Tigers were able to take three more wickets across the remaining overs, there simply wasn’t enough time for them to get all 10, with South finishing up at 6-50.

Tigers captain Will Oakley said it was an important win for his group which is pushing hard for top spot on the ladder.

“Both weeks it was a game of two halves, we got on top early last week and they fought back… this week it was the reverse as they got early wickets but we were able to steady,” Oakley said.

“It’s obviously great to get the win, but I think it’s also clear that there’s a few things for us to work on.”

Chief among those areas in need of attention in his view was their middle order batting, with the side having been heavily reliant on their key man in Hardie to get them over the line.

“We needed to give him some support through that middle order… we would’ve liked to have been fewer wickets down when we got to the total that’s for sure,” he said.

“We’ll take some time to reshuffle that batting order and see what works best… there’s still guys in our group who haven’t had a lot of time at the crease.

“In saying that, it was a fantastic opportunity for Joel (Hollis) to go out there and bat for a good stint… he did exactly what was needed which was staying out there and rotating the strike where necessary.”

Darras hold off Go-Ports

Tyrendarra has comfortably held off Gorae-Portland in the second half of their two-day match at Tyrendarra Recreation Reserve, ultimately winning by 174 runs.

Set an intimidating total of 336 runs for victory, Go-Ports were not off to a great start when both of their openers in skipper Zac Duncan and James Cannon fell relatively early, leaving them at 2-17.

Middle order batsmen Andre Wallace (28), Nick Wills (32), Stephen O’Brien (30) and Ryan Gadsden (26 not out) were able to produce valuable knocks to stem the bleeding, however it was now a slow run rate which was going to cost them in the end.

For the Darras, Sam Wilson (3-26 off 18) and Lachie Kirk’s (3-12 off 11) tidy and dangerous bowling was instrumental to their success, however it was a team bowling effort as all-up 10 players got an opportunity to bowl at least one over with the team able to restrict Gorae-Portland to 9-162 from the full 80 overs.

Other key contributors included Darren Killmister (1-24 off 12) and Kade Wilson (1-22 off 10), while Will Kirk (0-17 off 14) was also very economical.

The win sees Tyrendarra sit comfortably ahead of both Go-Ports and South on the ladder in third position, the question in their minds will now be if they can catch up with the Tigers and Portland Colts and make a play for top spot.

With second-place Colts versus Darras up next week, that matchup will be one for all to keep their eyes on.

Darras fall short of Sungold Cup

AFTER defeating Portland Tigers in the Portland and District Cricket Association’s Twenty20 final last weekend, Tyrendarra were afforded the opportunity to play off in the Sungold Cup – a competition which carries a prize of $15,000 for the winner.

Unfortunately for the Darras, their campaign only reached the quarter-final stage, beaten by Warrnambool and District Cricket Association club Port Fairy at A.H. Davidson Oval in Warrnambool on Sunday.

The result in this one didn’t go their way, as they fell by seven wickets with Port Fairy making the runs with five overs to spare.

After being sent in to bat, Tyrendarra didn’t get a great start as they lost both openers in Darren Killmister and Lachie Kirk early.

They were able to get the ball rolling through their middle order, as they were led by Sam Wilson’s knock of 28, while skipper Cam Mather (18) and Jake Wilson (16) were also key contributors.

The Darras finished up at 5-91 from their 20 overs, a total which would take a remarkable effort to defend.

Killmister was able to produce a bit of magic to try and spark his group in their quest for an upset, as he claimed all three of his side’s wickets and at one stage was on a hat trick.

It wasn’t enough to rattle their opposition however, as Port Fairy got to their target with plenty of wickets in the shed and time to spare.

Regardless, the Darras can come away from this one with their heads held high as they remained competitive against a very tough intertown opposition.

Warrnambool has two teams through Thursday’s semi-finals, with Nestles having accounted for Pomborneit (South West Cricket Association), while in the other quarter-finals Hamilton’s College defeated West Gambier, and Swifts/Great Western (Grampians CA) defeated Irrewarra (Colac CA).

The Sungold Cup semi-finals will be played on Thursday (Nestles v Port Fairy at 9.30am and Irrewarra v College at 12.15pm), followed by the final at 3.30pm with all games played at Uebergang Oval, Allansford.