The Mortlake paceman snared five wickets in a handful of balls as opponent Wimmera-Mallee lost an astounding 6-0 at Terang Cricket Ground yesterday.

Wimmera-Mallee had reached 4-88 in pursuit of South West’s 156 when Lachlan struck shortly after the second drinks break.

Four more wickets followed in quick time as the hosts won the pool A match by 68 runs.

Lachlan finished with 5-11 off 8.3 overs. He is on a hat-trick when South West starts its day two clash against West Wimmera this morning.

“He was our captain in the under 15s last year. He top-scored and might’ve taken the most wickets,” South West coach Chris Huffadine said.

“He is very handy, no doubt about that. He is in the under 16 Western Waves side and he’s certainly a player to be aware of.”

Huffadine said the match was “very much in the balance” before the match-defining collapse.

“If they had not lost any more wickets and pushed on, they could’ve won,” he said.

“They still had to work hard to get the runs though. They were only halfway there and only had 20 overs to get the rest. The pressure was too great.”

The South West and Wimmera-Mallee clash was one of two in Warrnambool Under 17 Country Week’s pool A yesterday.

Elsewhere, Warrnambool Blue piled on the runs in a big win against West Wimmera at Dennington Recreation Reserve.

Blue smashed 9-321 off its 50 overs and dismissed its rival for 131 to start its tournament defence in convincing fashion.

Jack Clifford top-scored with 98 off 63 balls, Blake Evans made 67 not out off 47 and Sam Younghusband reached 47 off 75. Ben Heard was the pick of the bowlers in the afternoon, snaring 4-16.

Coach Nathan Murphy said Jack “waited for the right ball and played his shots” during his knock, which included six sixes.

“He took a little bit of time to settle in. His first 15 balls were pretty patient, then he took them to pieces,” he said.

“Our plan was for him to come in in the last 20 overs.

“We were 3-44 and he said ‘do you still want me to come in?’ I said ‘yeah, if you’re there for 30 overs you’ll make 120’ and he nearly did.”

In pool B, Warrnambool Gold opened its campaign with a comfortable victory against Hamilton at Avery’s Paddock.

Liam Brown made 47 not out, Connor McLeod reached 41 and Charlie Locke tallied a patient 33 in the hosts’ 9-180 batting first.

Hamilton was all out for 140 in reply. Liam completed a man-of-the-match performance by taking 2-20, while leg-spinner Travis Parsons grabbed 3-38.

“After 25 overs we were 1-54. The wicket was a bit slow and Charlie Locke dropped the anchor and hung around,” coach Andrew Thomson said.

“They bowled particularly well, bowled very full, hardly gave us anything on leg stump, there was nothing to turn.”

In the other match, Dominic Dare smashed the first century of the tournament, 135, to help Colac thrash Horsham at Jones Oval. Colac was all out for 243 batting first. 

Horsham replied with 132 before Colac finished the day at 7-105, with Dominic adding another 42.