In the all-Tiger clash Morwell proved dominant early in the piece as Mirboo North slumped to 6/48.
Shane Gniel (3/35), Gavin Bailey (2/23) and Lachlan Day (2/35) caused the hosts plenty of headaches before Mirboo North captain Andrew Soplakow (63) paired up with Brandon Bradshaw (53*) in what would eventually prove to be a match-winning partnership of 90 to boost the total to 8/174.
Morwell struggled to bat in partnerships and never really got going in the chase, as wickets fell regularly to Bradshaw (3/23), Connor Williams (3/28) and Hudson Kerr who took the gloves off to claim 2/10 as Morwell were all out for 109.
Rawson skipper Ben Rotheram had no hesitation in batting first but the Kookaburras got off to a bad start against the Sharks.
They lost champion bat Alex Sword for a duck after a cut shot caused the ball to roll onto the stumps, and at 8/57 looked dead in the water.
Young gun Jack Hudson chanced his arm and battered the Latrobe bowlers on his way to 33, having lifted the home side to 99.
Nathan Nikodemski, Glen Steele, Ashley Halkett and Sam Phoenix all picked up doubles for the Sharks.
In reply the visitors struggled and only some late hitting from Nikodemski (22) brought them close as they eventually fell 12 runs short of the target.
Hudson (3/11) and Nathan Hammond (3/5) did the work for the Kookaburras with the ball.
Trafalgar posted 7/175 against Jeeralang-Boolarra with Jackson Noonan’s calm 53 at the top of the order providing the ideal platform.
Liam White and Brett Cameron both made middling scores while the rest of the order got starts but nobody took charge, preventing the Ships from posting a massive total, restricted by Gary Thorburn who nabbed 4/22.
However it proved to be more than enough as the Panthers succumbed to White, Jake Atkin and Blair Clymo who all nabbed two apiece, and were all out for 120 with only Dale Abbott (48) offering any resistance.
Thorpdale had been decimated by off-season departures but were glad to retain the services of Travis and Shannon Pickering for the opening round.
However both struggled for penetration with the ball as Latrobe Colts reached 6/162, powered by an aggressive 54* from Adam Duncan.
Damien McGann, Brendan Briggs and Gerard Hayes also chipped in with valuable runs, while only Heath Ferguson (3/14) and Liam Swallow (2/24) had any joy with the ball.
With the bat the Blues lost early wickets before captain Shannon Pickering threatened to singlehandedly drag his team over the line with a determined 41 before he was dismissed by Briggs, then Mark Lawrence (3/30) helped mop up the tail.
But it was Anubhav Anubhav who was the real star; his haul of 4/15 marked his first wickets in competitive cricket and helped propel his side to victory.
Newborough travelled to the newly-laid Crinigan Road surface to take on St Vincent’s.
The Bulldogs’ total of 153 might have been a lot poorer if not for the outstanding individual contribution of John Murray (63).
Each of the Saints bowlers picked up a couple of wickets as they restricted the visitors to a chaseable total.
Glen Hebbard (35), Zayne Dowdell (29) and Rob Harrington (23*) made sure of the points with only Bulldogs captain Mark Whitney (3/32) having much luck with the ball.
The result in the Yallourn North – Moe game in second grade mirrored that of the higher grade fixture between the clubs as the points were shared.
However this time it was inclement weather that influenced the result as the Bombers were in pole position to secure a win after posting 9/159 and reducing the Lions to 7/89 before the heavens opened.
Adam Chester’s superb half-century enabled the hosts to post a good score despite the wiles of off-spinner Zac Rendell (4/29).
Dean Jones was the top-scorer in the reply with 21 as the Lions struggled to bat time, Darren Wilkie (3/25) and Daniel Martini (2/32) causing problems but the Bombers were unable to nab the final three wickets needed to take home all six points.
