HAMILTON and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A grade ladder leader, Casterton District, host fellow top four opponent St Andrew’s at Island Park today, with both sides entering the game in positive form after winning last weekend.

Casterton District is the form side of the competition after the first three rounds, having won all three games, while the Drews lost round one but won the last two since to sit fourth.

At the start of the season only one opposition captain picked the Maroons to be the team to beat this year and so far, his prediction is looking good.

The side is playing good cricket to date with the batsmen scoring runs, the bowlers grabbing plenty of wickets and the fieldsmen putting pressure on the opposition.

Ben Holmes at the top of the order and Sullivan Gibbs at number four in the line-up are both making good use of their time in the middle, registering half centuries and dominating while at the crease.

Rick Killey and Kane Forbes are expected to come back into the team that thrashed Pigeon Ponds last round, strengthening the batting order, while Killey will bowl economically when called upon as well.

Jacob Edwards, Logan Gibbs and Carey Megaw are formidable with the new ball and are taking wickets that put the opposition on the back foot early in their innings in each game.

St Andrew’s defeated Tyrendarra via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method last weekend in a game that went down to the wire.

Drews centurian, Michael Fitzpatrick, is unavailable today, but Brendan Huf will open the innings again and look to continue his run of form that has seen him post scores of 90-not-out and 41 in his two knocks this season.

Huf needs the rest of the batting order to support him if the visitors are going to post a target the home side cannot chase, while Russell Elton, Latham Wishart and James Guthrig must bowl well to contain the Maroons.

College v Pigeon Ponds

DESPITE its lowly ladder position, Pigeon Ponds is still a team College cannot take lightly this afternoon at Hamilton College Turf.

Currently last on the ladder, the Pigeons should have Anthony and Michael Close back in the side for this game and the pair will bolster the batting order with Anthony adding economical bowling to the side as well.

Noah Hildebrand (43) was the only top-six batsman to reach double figures against Casterton District last Saturday, and this situation cannot occur today otherwise it will be four losses in succession for the side.

Hamish McCrae has taken over the captaincy this summer and he is also leading the bowling attack with the new ball in hand, and it’s to be hoped that McCrae has a full-strength team with which to battle the Eagles this afternoon.

College suffered a loss last Saturday due to the DLS calculation coming into play against the Portland Tigers.

Charles Murrie was back at the top of the innings and top scored, but his batsmen have all tasted form in the three rounds to date with Adrian Burn the best performed so far.

Grampians v Portland Tigers

PORTLAND Tigers enters this round in winning form for the first time this season, after the side defeated College at Hanlon Park last round, while Grampians almost pulled off a miraculous victory against Hamilton, falling short by only two runs in the weather affected round.

The visitors have a tough draw with three road trips in the first four rounds with this game being the furthest the side must travel for the season.

The Tigers’ top-six batted well and all except one made a start, but none went on to the big score that every team needs, and against Grampians the side will need someone to bat around if it’s going to post a target to defend.

Grampians only had 25 overs from which to hunt down the target that Hamilton set last Saturday, and to fall only two runs shy of victory is testament to the strength of the Pumas’ line-up.

Zach Burgess anchored the innings at number three with 65 runs from 60 balls and will be a key wicket today for the Tigers, while Carl Joyce, Ty Gilmore and Will Collins are all capable of winning a game on their own as well.

Portland Colts v South Portland

PORTLAND Colts will host South Portland at Henty Park in a key round four match-up.

Colts has had a frustrating start to its campaign, winning the first game of the season against Pigeon Ponds, before losing a thriller in round two against St Andrew’s on the penultimate ball of the day, before last week’s game against Macarthur resulted in a draw due to rain.

However, they’ve seen some very impressive performances with both bat and ball, most notably from captain, Luke Evans, whose average currently stands at 168, as he has been dismissed just once so far.

They also got very strong batting performances from Daniel Kinghorn and Mat Belden in their most recent outing, which bodes well for their form heading into the middle stages of the season.

Meanwhile, South will be riding high after two consecutive wins over the last two weekends, with dominance shown with both bat and ball at times.

Having bowled tight lines and taken wickets consistently against both Hamilton and Gorae-Portland in the last two weeks, the Demons have to be confident they can produce more of the same and continue to revitalise themselves in the top grade of local cricket.

Gorae-Portland v Hamilton

GO-PORTS will be keen to bounce back quickly after a disappointing result against South Portland, as they take on Hamilton at Alexandra Park.

With usual contributors with the bat in Stephen O’Brien and captain, Nick Wills, faltering last week, Go-Ports should be confident that with a return to form with an improved bowling performance will see them get the best of a Hamilton side which is currently second last on the table.

In saying that, Go-Ports cannot afford to overlook an opponent which they’ve never faced before, especially one which has shown that at their best they can put up big totals.

Tyrendarra v Macarthur

TYRENDARRA will probably feel hard done by to not be 3-0 at this stage, coming close to chasing down a mammoth target of 242 in just 35 overs last week, and they’ll have an opportunity to make up for that missed chance when they face Macarthur at Tyrendarra Recreation Reserve this afternoon.

The Darras’ batting order has looked as solid as ever, with the likes of Lachie Kirk, Sam Wilson, Jordi Withers all having showcased what they have to offer at stages across the first three rounds.

Macarthur’s top order looked a little shaky in their match against Colts, as they were likely the beneficiaries of that match resulting in a draw, and they’ll need to be at their best against a Tyrendarra opponent which has been red hot to start the season.