Incredible finish to Invy, Imps clash

By Sam Watson

• B Grade, Division 1

INVERLOCH has pulled off one of the wins of the season, in match with massive top four ramifications.

With Inverloch sitting just six points in front of the Imperials, whoever won would grab fourth spot on the B1 ladder.

The Imperials batted first and after a shaky start, Troy Williams 51 got the runs flowing quickly.

But it was Damon Ginnane who really punished the Stingray attack, and his 100-run partnership with Williams got them in a great position.

After Williams departed, Dallas McLennan 33 got amongst the action, putting on a 93-run partnership with Ginnane as he made his way to 104.

After 40 overs, the Imperials were on 6/217, putting them in a great position to take fourth spot.

Brad Phillips started Inverloch’s chase beautifully with a classy half century and then captain Brett Debono added a much needed 22.

Inverloch looked in trouble after their middle over experienced a mini collapse, but Lucas McMillan and Shaun Hayes were ready to save the day.

They put on an 82-run partnership, with Hayes making 35, but McMillan kept going and his 65* off 44 balls got Inverloch over the line by three wickets in the final over.

MDU upset Nerrena

MDU has pulled off an upset in B1, knocking off one of the flag fancies in Nerrena by five wickets in a thrilling match.

Nerrena elected to bat after winning the toss and it was Ashley Harrison 43 who shouldered most of the load early.

Paul Matheson 41 and Shaun Helms 31 both had great contributions in the middle order, and then a quick 32 from Ryan Giliam got them to 168 before being bowled out in the final over.

Colin Knox 26 and Tyrone Zukovskis 22 opened the innings strongly but patiently for MDU, leaving the quick run scoring to Darien Matthews 31 and Craig Hoober 50.

After Hoober and Matthews got them right in the game, there will still quite a few runs needed as the overs total drew closer to 40.

Enter Jai Bright and Simon McRae.

Bright made 18 off seven balls and McRae 16 off eight and they were able to pass Nerrena five wickets down with three balls to spare.

McIntyre makes another ton

PHILLIP Island captain Steve McIntyre is in rare form at the moment scoring back-to-back centuries in big wins.

Korumburra was McIntyre’s victim this week, and they would’ve been kicking themselves when they won the toss and sent their opponents in at Korumburra Recreation Reserve.

McIntyre and Daniel Bourke 35 put on a 95-run opening partnership and Tony Hornsby 56 joined in on the fun not long after.

Matt Dennerley 27 also enjoyed some runs, but McIntyre was the man of the moment, getting to 101 off 92 balls.

After he was out, more runs piled on and they finished at 7/243 after 40 overs.

Phillip Richards 59*, Glen Barrett 29, and Thomas Jenkin 28 all had a crack at chasing down the total, but it was far too much, and the rest of the team struggled.

Phillip Island’s bowlers got right on top after Korumburra’s early efforts, keeping them to 8/164 after 40 overs.

Koony come back to tip over Town

KOONWARRA has all but guaranteed a spot in the B1 finals, beating Leongatha Town by 18 runs at Scorpion Park.

Captain James Rushton opened the batting after winning the toss, but they were struggling to find runs outside of his 26.

That was until Matthew Boswell 49 and Nick Arnup 29* made some crucial runs in the back half of the innings to get Koonwarra to 9/163.

The theme of the top order struggling continued in Town’s innings as they fell to 4/46, but James Dean turned the game around.

His 64 gave Town all the momentum, but he was running out of partners, and when he was bowled the game was over.

Koonwarra cleaned up Town’s tail for not many, bowling them out for 145 with three overs remaining.

• B Grade, Division 2

Poowong Loch leap into pole position

POOWONG Loch has jumped into first position on the B1 ladder, taking down the previous ladder leaders in OMK at Poowong Recreation Reserve.

After winning the toss and batting, Said Magnusson 50 started Poowong Loch’s innings well, and then a 26 from Shannon Rozario and a 47 from Gary Miller got them in a formidable position.

That position was strengthened when Anwar Magnusson blasted 52 off 32 balls late in the innings, getting them top 8/223 after 40 overs.

David Jeffries 60 and Brad Hayes put on a 94-run second wicket partnership to get OMK right into the game at Poowong Recreation Reserve.

But a 24 from Patrick Jobling was all the rest of the batters had to offer and they finished 66 runs behind at 9/157.

Parsons gets PI out of trouble

PHILLIP Island captain Matt Parsons has helped his side avoid a big upset against Nyora, dismissing four Nyora batters in a row.

Phillip Island batted first at Loch Recreation Reserve, and it was Connor Epifano’s patient 26 that helped set the innings up.

Andrew Tolley 47 then added some much-needed runs, but Nyora’s bowlers had the rest of the order sorted out and they bowled them out for 110 with six overs to spare.

Shane Warren was the pick of their strong bowling attack, taking 4/25 off eight overs.

With a massive upset on the cards, Nyora didn’t start their run chase the way they would’ve liked, falling to 5/31.

Lachlan Perrot 27* could make runs but he had to bat slow as he’s partners kept going out.

The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh batters were all dismissed by Parsons, who finished with 4/18 off eight and the game was all but over.

Keith Maclure 20 offered some resistance, but they were eventually bowled out for 76 with over eight overs to spare.

KB too good for Glen Alvie

KILCUNDA Bass has kept their B2 season alive, beating Glen Alvie by 49 runs at Glen Alvie Recreation Reserve.

The visitors chose to bat after winning the toss and a 90-run partnership from Brett Joseph 70 and Craig Elliot 36 set the innings up nicely.

Glen Alvie wrestled back a bit of momentum, but Daniel Blackney 37 took the game away with them with a quick 37 to get KB to 6/182 after 40 overs.

Clint Honeysett’s 69 kept Glen Alvie’s run chase alive, but he received almost no help from his teammates, and they were all out for 133 in the 38th over.