Portland Tigers and Casterton District are going toe-to-toe in a battle at Hanlon Park which so far has been won by the bowlers.
The Tigers won the toss and elected to bat first, and while Michael Blomeley got them off to a strong start, soon Casterton had made inroads toward their middle order.
As has often been the case for the Tigers, a number of their batsmen were able to get starts, but none of them kicked on for a match-winning score.
Blomeley was gone for 26, and after a decent partnership both Paul Procter (29) and Dean Brewster (20) were also dismissed.
Llewellyn Oakley was able to occupy the crease for a valuable 21 of his own, but eventually the Tigers were bowled out for 137.
Carey Megaw was the best of Casterton’s bowlers, picking up 3-27 from 16 overs, while Jacob Edwards also took three scalps.
Casterton were then sent in to bat, and Tigers opening bowlers Artie Harvey and Joel Askew were able to have a key role in keeping their side in the game.
Harvey had Edwards bowled on a no-ball before cleaning up his stumps with the very next ball, while Askew was able to pick up the wickets of their other opener Ben Holmes and Sullivan Gibbs to have them three down before stumps.
All up, Casterton are 3-57 at stumps, needing a further 81 on day two for a first innings victory.
Go-Ports well-placed against Hamilton
Gorae-Portland is well-placed to continue on its winning ways in the two-day campaign, as they’ll require just 115 more runs for victory this Saturday away from home against Hamilton at Dahl Turf.
Go-Ports won the toss and elected to send Hamilton in to bat, and while the home side were able to get through the early stages mostly unscathed, Go-Ports were able to effectively restrict their run rate.
Soon enough the breakthroughs came, with Thomas Roberts doing plenty of damage with spin, while Stephen O’Brien was at his usual best able to both take wickets and keep the run rate very slow, bowling 13 maidens.
All up, Hamilton was bowled out for 140, with Roberts finishing with figures of 4-39 from 16.1 overs while O’Brien had 3-32 from 22 overs.
Go-Ports openers Damien Compton (18 not out) and Finn Saurine (seven not out) were able to get their side to 0-25 at stumps.
Now in the box seat, they’ll be looking to take control of the contest even further in the second day.
College on top against South
College has put itself in a strong position to take out the points against South Portland, making 8-280 before an aggressive declaration late on Saturday at Hamilton College.
Jack Austin (74) and captain Charles Murrie (45) got the going started at the top of the order, and while South skipper Lachie Warburton was able to make inroads with the ball – finishing with four wickets – soon enough it was Adrian Burn’s turn to take over with the bat.
92 runs off 81 balls later, College were well and truly in the drivers seat, and Murrie elected to declare at 8-280.
Warburton finished with figures of 4-83 from 18.1 overs, while Chris Barry was also able to pick up a wicket.
College got five overs at South before the end of the day, and were able to pick up the one scalp, with Jordy Anthony dismissing Paul Drew on the second last over of the day.
South were 1-7 at stumps, and will be in need of an almighty effort from a couple of batsmen to get over the line.
Game in the balance at Tyrendarra
Tyrendarra and Portland Colts are locked in an intriguing battle to kick off each side’s two-day cricket campaign in the Hamilton and District Cricket Association, with Colts finishing up day one on 9-192 at Tyrendarra Recreation Reserve.
Batting out the 75 overs usually holds a side in good stead for the remainder of the match, but early on it certainly looked like Colts would struggle to do so, as they lost their three top order batsmen with only a handful of runs on the board.
The Darras’ seamers worked in tandem, with Dylan Murray, Lachie Kirk and Ben Menzel picking up one wicket each early.
However, Colts’ captain Luke Evans soon partnered with Daniel Kinghorn and the pair were able to steady the ship with a patient yet effective partnership for the fourth wicket.
The Darras’ bowling remained tight, with Murray, Kirk and Menzel each putting in long spells and able to keep the run rate down below three runs an over.
Eventually Menzel found the breakthrough, having Kinghorn caught one short of his half-century, while Evans was caught off Murray shortly after having made 76.
Adam Barbary held up his end for Colts with a valuable 20 batting at number seven, and while the Darras were able to find wickets through the lower order they were one short of bowling out their opponents.
Menzel was the pick of the Darras’ bowling attack, finishing with figures of 4-35 from 22 overs with seven maidens.
Murray finished with 3-61 from 21 overs, while Kirk had 2-43 from 17 overs, with those three bowlers combining to bowl 60 out of the 75 overs of the day.
It’s certainly tough to pick a favourite at this stage, especially with two-day cricket having yet to be played so far this season.
What is for certain is that both sides will know they have to put their best foot forward on day two to take the points.
Other results
St Andrews finished up with a mammoth 4-314 at stumps against Pigeon Ponds, with Michael Fitzpatrick making 107 while Damien Logan made 93.
Meanwhile, Grampians were bowled out in the last over of the day against Macarthur, finishing up on 162 as Charlie Summers picked up a five wicket haul for the Demons.
