Merrivale batsman Josh Stapleton blasted 180 while James Fary, Jeremy Burgess and Simon Fleming took three wickets each in a lopsided encounter.

How times have changed. Fast forward two years — almost to the day — and the tables are turned in memorable fashion.

Nirranda moved to second on the WDCA Hopkins conference after three rounds thanks to its six-wicket victory against Merrivale at Koroit’s Victoria Park.

The Knights limited the Tigers to 8-151 and chased down the score with six balls to spare for the loss of four wickets. 

“The vibe is fantastic,” coach Jason Mungean said.

“We’ve got good numbers at training and more people are coming to watch, which is something that hasn’t happened for a while. Everyone is up and about.”

Opening batsman James Dalton was the hero for Nirranda, as he was in the opening-round upset of Allansford a fortnight earlier.

Dalton top scored with 57 and had valuable support from Mungean (24 not out), Hamish Huffadine (21) and Ranil Rasanga (19).

Earlier, Jeremy Burgess blasted 71 for Merrivale — the fourth-highest in a batsman-dominated weekend in division one -—while Mungean took 3-37.

Mungean said the Knights were pleased to have restricted the Tigers to 151 on a ground which offered value for shots.

He said Dalton had justified his promotion to opener, having spent much of last season reinforcing the middle order.

“We put him up the top of the order this year. He batted middle order last year and he’s jumped at it,” he said.

“He’s hitting the ball clean. He’s been real handy. He put the bad balls away yesterday, which at the top of the order is what you have to do.”

In other Hopkins conference matches, a Tim McDonald half-century steered Allansford to victory against Dennington at Allansford Recreation Reserve.

McDonald made 64 as the Gators successfully chased down the Dogs’ 6-136 to post a seven-wicket win with six balls to spare. Shannon Beks led the Dogs’ batting efforts with 43 not out while Gator Adam Ryan took the bowling honours with 2-28.

And a destructive performance with the ball was the catalyst for Brierly-Christ Church’s eight-wicket defeat of Nestles at Brierly Recreation Reserve.

The Bulls routed the Factory for 82, with Col Pascoe (2-8) the pick of the bowlers. In reply, Nathan Murphy (42) steered the hosts to victory in 13 overs.