Barwon Heads set Jan Juc a big total to chase next Saturday by making 9/291 on day one of round 6 in BPCA A1 Grade at RT Fuller Oval on Saturday 15 November.
Captain Dan Donaldson had no hesitation in batting first when he won the toss and openers Lewy Hyland and Max Melzer negotiated the new ball with relative comfort.
Hyland was the first wicket to fall, but not before the pair put on 134 with Hyland departing for 91 from 100 balls.
The duo shared a 159-run stand in round 4 with Hyland smacking 125 from 69 balls. He missed the round 4 clash that was abandoned due to rain on day two.
Melzer continued his consistent start to the season with 38, 23, 22 and 55 in his first four hits and his contribution of 56 on Saturday was all-important.
Cameron McKinley made 54 at No 3 while Jaxon Mallett (25) and Darcy Hewitt (33 from 31 balls) got runs in the middle order.
Medium pacer Elijah Falconer toiled hard for the Sharks, sending down 19 overs for the return of 3/63 and Nicky Smith, now operating from a short run-up, took 1/55 from 19 overs and left-armer Jordy Graham snared 2/49 from 14.
Inverleigh captain Lachie Platt made more than half his team’s score with a brilliant 103 against Barrabool.
Platt’s 157-ball innings contained eight boundaries and a six as the Kookaburras were dismissed for 200 in the 69th over.
It was largely a one-man show with Will Stoney contributing 30 in the face of some terrific slow bowling from Luke Clift, who took 5/49 from 22.5 overs.
The Bulls had three overs to negotiate before stumps, but lost David Grigg first ball to Daniel Midolo.
A patient 49 from 174 deliveries by Tallan Burns and a late-order 49 from Blake Dobbin got Drysdale to 171 all out against Armstrong Creek.
Left-arm seamer Jack Maclean took 4/32 from 16 overs for the Titans and brother Daniel sent down 24 overs for 2/54.
In the eight overs before stumps, Armstrong Creek made it to 1/14 with Nic Johnson run out in the fifth over, but nightwatchman Lachlan Mulgrew survived for 14 balls to ensure no other wickets fell.
Queenscliff was dismissed in the 75th over for 175 against Anglesea.
Hayden Illingworth top scored with 43 from 125 balls and Max Minney made 26 with sundries the next highest contribution on 23.
The wickets were shared around – Ben Harcombe (2/11 from eight overs), Dylan Taylor (2/41 from 17) and Ky Eskrigge (2/51 from 16.4) each snaring two apiece.
In A2 Grade, Portarlington already has first-innings points against Newcomb and will push for an outright win on day two.
Dees skipper Nathaniel Symes ripped through the Newcomb line-up for 107 to take 6/33 from 15 overs.
Singhara Kumar was the best of the Bulls’ bats with 23.
In reply, Port is 3/175 with a lead of 68 and Symes has a decision to make with Joel De Bono still there on 87. Will he declare immediately or give De Bono a few overs to attempt to make a century?
Cameron Gourley contributed 51 in a 114-run opening partnership with De Bono.
Troy Griffin made a mammoth 172 for St Leonards against Surf Coast.
Griffin faced just 149 balls and smacked 18 fours and nine sixes in a 187-run opening stand with Brian White (49) while Diptagni Ganguly made 42.
The Saints declared after 66 overs at 7/299 with Akashvir Singh picking up a tidy 4/61 from 19 overs.
The Suns are 1/20 at stumps, losing Ben Tekin to Seb Harrison, caught at slip by Shane Cutajar while attempting to turn the ball to leg.
The situation is remarkably similar to the round 6 clash in 2023/24 between these teams. On that occasion, the Saints declared at 5/299, but the Suns almost pulled off a miraculous victory, eventually dismissed for 280.
Wallington posted 226 all out against Collendina in its highest total of the season so far.
Richard Faust made 60 and Billy Gravett hit 51 while Dane Wise-Graham (31) and Mitch Sleeman (25 not out) made contributions.
Young seamer Jackson de Jong bowled superbly for the Cobras, taking 3/13 from 11 overs and while Zach Muir didn’t take a wicket, his 16 overs cost only 26 runs.
Most of the Ocean Grove batters got runs in a final total of 8/264 against Winchelsea.
Connor Weidemann was the only player to pass 50 with 52 from 73 balls while Zac Jones made 44, Fletcher Long hit 40, Shaun Fankhauser scored 35 and Baljinder Singh Brar made a nice 30 from 28 balls and Campbell Snookes contributed 29.
Shane Currie toiled away for Winch with 3/58 from 14 overs.
