Drysdale won a low-scoring encounter to cement its spot at the top of the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association A2 Grade ladder.
Drysdale’s batsmen just couldn’t get going on a slow outfield at Wallington. Scoring was so tough that only 173 runs were scored from 78 overs for the day.
Ben Spencer bucked the trend for the Hawks with a rapid 18 off 11 deliveries as the side was all out for 91 with 10 balls remaining in the innings.
Damien Biemans was the Wallabies’ most successful bowler with 3-11.
The small total was never going to be easy to chase with the outfield so slow.
Biemans tried hard to lift the run rate with 15 off 22 but the Drysdale attack was too miserly. Will Ritchie started things off nicely with 3-16 while veteran David Sykes is showing no signs of slowing down with 3-14.
Wallington was all out for 82 off the final ball of the 40th over.
Another low-scoring game was played out at Portarlington.
Port batted first against Little River and fell for 104 as Paul Trotter grabbed five wickets for the Redbacks.
Nick Fairchild (34 off 67) and Heath Bewley (25 off 22) were the only batters to reach double figures for Little River in its reply of 95 all out with Paul Wells (4-27) and Blake Dobbin (3-10) snaring seven poles between them.
Barwon Heads won a high-standard game against Armstrong Creek.
James Hodder (32 from 56), Darcy Hewitt (25 from 27) and Oscar Irwin (20 from 33) played well for the Seagulls in their total of 172, but with six overs still to go when the final wicket fell, it would have felt like a disappointing score.
However, the bowlers were determined to do everything they could to win the game.
Hewitt (3-40 from eight), Irwin (2-24), along with tidy spells from Jack Johnstone and James Ponsford, ensured the Heads won by 20 runs.
Plenty of Titans’ batters got starts with Jack Maclean getting 33 from 41, but they were all out for 152 with 16 balls left.
Winchelsea disposed of an improved Newcomb.
At 4-13, it looked like an early finish might be on the cards, but veteran Mark Costello (27 from 40) and Dylan McFarlane (30 off 68) got things back and track and bowler Brendan Sheedy played well for his run-a-ball 26 not out.
Still, Newcomb’s score of 126 would need a huge effort with the ball to prove successful.
Sheedy (2-26) struck twice early to have Winch in trouble at 2-29, but Will Kelly was patient for 26 from 76 balls and Adam Korth played well for 43 not out to get the side home with seven wickets and nine overs to spare.
