Allan Wallace, who has played across four senior divisions for the Knights in his career, is making the most of his latest go at the top grade, with seven wickets from his three appearances so far this season.

He stole the show against Merrivale on Saturday, snaring 4-4 from his nine overs, which included six maidens.

“You don’t come across those figures too often,” Nirranda captain Steven Castle said. “He bowled a really good line and length.

“He does move the ball and varies his pace.”

After Wallace missed the first two games of the season, Castle said the paceman had “gotten better and better” with the ball.

On Saturday, he was integral as Nirranda decimated Merrivale’s top order to leave the home side 5-8.

“It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on, but certainly at the start of the day, we would’ve been happy to be chasing 92,” Castle said.

“We actually probably should’ve been chasing a lot less than that, however we dropped a couple of catches in the middle – they were 5-8 at one point.”

Spinner Corey Couch also had a strong spell, taking 3-27 off his nine overs as Merrivale finished on 8-92.

The Knights chased down the target with two wickets and a touch over five overs to spare, snapping a three-game losing streak.

After tough assignments against early pace-setter Brierly-Christ Church and undefeated Russells Creek, Castle said the Knights were happy to be rewarded for their hard work.

Nirranda fell 29 runs short of Russells Creek in their Twenty20 match, but a week later fell just 15 runs short in their one-day clash.

“I think we’ve been playing quite well – it’s always good to get the reward of a win after a couple of near losses,” Castle said.

“We’re confident we can continue to improve.”

The boost of confidence will be handy for the Knights as they try to turn the tables on Brierly-Christ Church this Saturday, after the Bulls comfortably accounted for them in their earlier T20 clash.