NOORAT paceman Stephen Staunton further elevated his season with the ball when he took his fifth five-wicket haul, and third in consecutive matches, on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Staunton took his season’s tally to 31 wickets at an average of 9.55 when he pegged back finals-bound Bookaar’s batsmen with 6-56 from 27 overs in the South West Cricket division one game at Noorat.
Third-placed Bookaar posted 203 on day one of the final-round match despite Staunton’s heroics. At stumps, Noorat, which is out of finals contention, was 1-11.
Top side Mortlake overcame a batting collapse to post a competitive total against fourth-placed Terang in what is shaping as a semi-final preview.
The Cats were 5-50 and 8-126 before Craig Fowler rescued the innings with 51 alongside Neil Kelly (42) and skipper Todd Lamont (30) as they finished with 190. Terang’s Brandon Bant took 4-36 off 12 overs.
Lamont said he was comfortable with his side’s position.
“It’s probably about even,” he said.
“The pitch was pretty tricky and it was a good day for bowling with the overhead conditions.
“I thought it would be a good toss to lose but in the end I decided to bat.
“When we were 8-120 at tea, I was hoping we could scratch another 30 and get to 150, which is a pretty good score at Terang historically. To be up near 200, I would have taken that.”
The Cats made an early breakthrough with Terang 1-36 at stumps.
Second-placed Cobden made a good start in its bid to lock away second place on the table, making 193 against fifth-placed Pomborneit, with Jack Hutt the mainstay with an unbeaten 64 in the middle order. Pomborneit reached 0-23 at stumps.
