A Riley Marie century guided Berwick Springs to a round one win over Narre North in DDCA Turf 3.
An opener whose steady hand is usually concealed by competition star Jackson Marie’s exploits, Saturday was Hillman’s day in the sun, with Marie dismissed for just 12.
Chasing an imposing 221, Hillman built into his innings nicely, providing composure and comfortable run-scoring early as wickets fell, before forming a match-winning 148-run partnership with Shalika Karunanayake, who scored 55.
Hillman’s unbeaten 108 followed a five-wicket haul to hard working Titans fast bowler Ethan Marinic.
At Thomas Carroll Reserve, St Mary’s won a thriller against Fountain Gate by four runs.
The Gators lost their ninth wicket in the 41st over, still 10 runs behind St Mary’s’ 218.
Asadullah Jabbar Khil and Justin Smith were steady in getting Fountain Gate to within four runs of victory in the last over before a Harrison Kidd run out sealed the game for St Mary’s.
It was a seesawing affair with plenty of momentum swings before the Saints took the last three wickets for six runs to cap a brilliant first up win.
In a high-scoring match, skipper Beau Newman was instrumental in building pressure in Fountain Gate’s chase after his opposite number Mohammad Azim Nasimi scored a brisk 67.
Campbell Luck and Joey Snow were the pick of the batters for St Mary’s.
Buckley Ridges won by 112 runs against Lynbrook despite a Devanandh Chandrasekar four wicket haul.
Springvale South bested Keysborough by eight wickets, whose lower order rescued it from 8/80 to post 149, but that proved too small a target, with the Bloods winning with 21 overs to spare.
