A Lee Stockdale-century has helped propel Ex Students to second on the ladder in a pulsating end to round 10 of Traralgon and district cricket.
The masterclass effort from Victoria Country’s best player of the Australian Country Cricket Championships did not end there in the Sharks’ victory against Imperials.
The Ex Students skipper followed up his second century of the season with a sensational spell with the ball, taking five wickets for six runs off 4.5 overs.
Batting first, Stockdale and Greg Munro put on 120 before Munro was out for 68.
Imperials had two raucous appeals against Stockdale when he was on 20 and 81, both for caught behind, turned down and the Sharks captain was sensational bringing up his century.
Ex Students went on to record a strong 6/236.
Alex Butler took 4/43, but the run chase proved too much for Imperials.
Butler top scored with a controlled 82 and Scott Aitken made a solid 36 as Imperials were all out for 167.
Sharks’ Michael Warne took 3/32.
Raiders v Churchill
Churchill won the toss and decided to bat but was in immediate trouble losing 3/33.
Skipper John Keighran steadied the innings with a top score of 44, while Joe Whykes made a crucial 40 as the Cobras made a competitive 154.
Kurt Holt was the best for Raiders with 3/22, while Mick Higgins, Ross Whelpdale and Leigh Jensen took two wickets each.
Raiders had to win to keep its finals chances alive and in a good team effort got the runs easily, six wickets down with four overs to spare.
Higgins top scored with 41 and Brad Knowles and Jason Macfarlane both made 35.
Toongabbie v Glengarry
Glengarry headed out to cross town rival Toongabbie where it won the toss and bowled first.
The surprising move did not pay off as the Rams turned in a good batting performance to be all out for 166 after 42 overs.
Kevin Stoddart top scored with 47, Matt Golding 38 and Steve Nicholls 25.
Tim Spotswood and Ben Julin took three wickets each.
Glengarry got off to a good start of 31 with Sam Marks (22) and Tim Spotswood (15), but from then on it was a struggle as the Toongabbie bowlers took over.
Paul Henry made 26 and Chris Johnson 23 not out as Glengarry was bowled out for 157 in the 44th over, nine runs short of the target.
Jason Veneman was best for Toongabbie with 3/28.
Traralgon West v CATS
Batting first Traralgon West got off to a good start of 37 with Jon Bell (21) and Tim Fitch (17), but from then it was a struggle as they battled it out to make 127.
Mitch Marino (18) and Ray Falla (17) contributed.
Vaughan Penrose and Davin Charleston each took three wickets.
Traralgon West was in with a chance as it snared CATS first five wickets for 89, and when it slumped to 7/112 Traralgon West was eyeing off its first win for the year.
But a match-winning stand between Corey Beaver (46*) and Davin Charleston (27) got CATS home as it reached 7/189.
Other contributors were Brett Chapman (34) and Barney Webber (21).
Best for West was Corey Rogers with bowling figures of 2/38.
Centrals v Rovers
The closest contest of the round was between Centrals and Rovers.
Centrals batted first and made a total of 9/187.
Corey Pollard relished his promotion to open the innings with a top score of 48.
Dean Rode (36), Jarrod Allan (30) and Dylan Loprese (25*) all got valuable runs.
Anthony Wilkes and Fazz Hasan took three wickets each.
Rovers, in need of a win, got off to a solid start of 40 with Mark Thompson (14) and Todd Mann (24).
Simon Duff top scored with 37, Nillantha Thilereknatha got 27 while Dean Gillard made 20.
In a fantastic finish, Rovers fell five runs short to be 9/182 at day’s end.
Corey Pollard finished a great game with 3/31 along with 3/22 from Dylan Loprese.
B grade
Ex Students 160 d Imperials 118 (D Carpenter 4/15, D Macgregor 33); Glengarry 3/121 d Toongabbie 113 (R Marks 32*, D Little 31*, B Clegg 3/16, A Hood 37, P Anton 32); CATS 173 d Traralgon West 171 (S Falla 50, G Foster 4/40, J Motta 63); Central 9/232 d Rovers 133 (O Syed 46, S Perks 5/3, B Holwett 74); Churchill 7/181 d Raiders 151 (P Xerri 57, L Linton 38, S Edwards 4/13, R Flanigan 3/28, B McQuillen 72, R Harvey 50).
