By Jonty Ralphsmith
WARRAGUL AND DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION
After 480 balls of action, Warragul and District Cricket Association sides Longwarry and Hallora couldn’t be split.
Hallora’s Mitchell Smith was run out on the final ball of the day scrambling for a run that would give his team victory but Vidusha Jayasinghe dislodged the bails to see the points split.
Hallora finished its innings going at a run a ball for the last few overs but the momentum couldn’t carry it to the win.
Just as much, though, Longwarry would feel hollow it couldn’t put the foot down and finish the visitors off when they were 6/90 chasing 150 for victory.
A timely spell to slow the run-rate from Jonah Serong (1/16 off eight overs) proved decisive for Longwarry, putting the pressure on Hallora’s later order to score quickly.
But score quickly they did, with Smith (34 off 31), James Williams (15 off 19) and Aidan Phillips (13 off 13) getting Longwarry within touching distance of victory.
Earlier, opener Dylan Serong stood tall, making 53 and seeing off an ominous opening spell from Phillips (3/33 off six) and Grant Duncan (1/16 off eight) which had Longwarry 3/6.
Longwarry recovered well, though, with Isaac Kearney and Jayasinghe both also contributing cameos through the middle.
In other games: Ellinbank shared the wickets around against Neerim District, bowling them out for 68 before cantering to an eight-wicket victory; and Troy Lehman’s 4/9 off seven led Drouin’s annihilation of Catani, bowled out for 42.
VICTORIAN SUB-DISTRICT CRICKET ASSOCIATION
After conceding 7/282 last week, Endeavour Hills was never in the hunt for victory against Melton.
Two early wickets had the visitors on the back foot immediately, before starts to Akshay Billal (26 off 42) and Lachlan De Zilwa (33 off 52) helped establish some partnerships.
But the only player that was able to go on with a start was Sasith Udayangana, who batted for three hours before being run out for 64.
The 137 balls it took to make those runs underlined the discipline of Melton’s attack.
An unbeaten 47 from captain Chris Pereira, a lower-order bat, helped instil some respectability to the scoreline, though it was still an 88-run loss.
