Mirboo North beaten at long last

It has taken seven rounds but Mirboo North’s undefeated run in the Central Gippsland Cricket Association’s first grade competition came to an end at the hands of Morwell on Saturday.

Morwell became the first team to defeat Mirboo North on the back of a rapid-fire 91 from Robert Webber, who scored his runs off 124 balls to set up the win at Mirboo North Recreation Reserve.

Resuming at 1/45, Morwell’s Rory Hare and Kris Fortuin added 22 to the tally before Fortuin was caught off the bowling of Liam Smit for 30.

When Smit dismissed English import Jordan Campbell for a golden duck with the next delivery Mirboo North had the match turning in its favour.

The wicket brought Webber to the crease and when he was dismissed with the score at 7/203, Mirboo North’s score of 191 was an afterthought.

During his innings he received able support from Lachlan Day (16 off 78 balls) and Brendan Brincat (14 off 18 balls).

In the end Morwell was all out for 222 off 84.4 overs, securing a handy first innings victory.

Smit was the pick of the bowlers with 4/59 off 18 overs, with Jed Alexander (2/5 off 3.4) and Dale Banks (2/38 off 18) chipping in with scalps of their own.

With 17 overs remaining, Mirboo North batted again and finished 4/42.

Travis Pickering was the star with 4/6 off eight overs, with Alexander finishing 21 not out and Jesse Giardina making 16.

Mirboo North maintain a healthy 11 -point lead at the top of the table despite the loss, while Morwell remains in third.

Morwell will miss the next two weeks with a bye but will go into the break with added confidence after firing with bat and ball to take the points.

Moe v Jeeralang Boolarra

There was no happy homecoming at Ted Summerton Reserve for Moe after losing outright to Jeeralang Boolarra in its first game back at its main ground.

At the end of day one the Lions were in serious trouble at 5/22 in response to the Panthers’ 245 and were in desperate need of a big partnership to have a chance of overhauling the total.

Steven Mesaric and Noah Kane added nine runs to the tally before Mesaric was dismissed for five.

From there Pat Spiteri (57) partnered with Kane to lift Moe with a 74-run partnership, departing with the score at 7/105.

Kane soon ran out of partners, finishing 22 not out as the Lions were dismissed for 120 in 44 overs.

Matthew McGrath did the damage for the visitors with the ball, taking 5/50 in 15 overs.

His victims included openers Joel Mitchell (6) and Kane O’Connell (0) in addition to removing the dangerous Spiteri.

Captain Stanley Urbanic Junior took 3/21 off 15 overs, while Ben McCormack and Robert Beamish took one each.

With Moe still 125 runs behind Jeeralang Boolarra’s first innings tally, Urbanic had no hesitation in asking his opponents to follow on.

It was up to Kane to partner O’Connell at the top of the order with Mitchell back in Melbourne playing Premier Cricket.

The pair got off to a good start in windy conditions, seeing off the new ball and pushing the score to 21 before O’Connell was dismissed by Luke Heath for 17.

A collapse then ensued with Kane, Stace Puts and Spiteri all losing their wickets to Urbanic to leave the Lions teetering at 4/27.

Captain Andrew Philip (23) attempted to get things moving and prevent the outright but twin strikes from Heath removed the Moe skipper and left the Lions on the brink at 6/67.

Benjamin Maslen (16) was the only other Moe bat to reach double figures as the Lions capitulated to be all out for 92 in 44.4 overs, 33 runs short of the Panthers’ first innings tally.

Urbanic (5/11 off 14 overs) and Heath (4/24 off 11.4) were the destroyers in the second innings with McCormack chipping in 1/6 off a two over cameo.

The heavy loss means Jeeralang Boolarra return to the four with an almost seven point lead over the fifth-placed Lions.

Latrobe v Yallourn North

With just five wickets remaining in its second innings and still 133 runs behind Latrobe’s first innings score, only the bravest of punters would have backed Yallourn North to win this match.

The Bombers resumed at 5/18 off eight overs and were soon all out for 25 off 13.2 overs.

Tyron Gamage (6/13 off six) and Chris Johnson (4/6 off seven overs) were the only bowlers used and shared all 10 wickets between them.

Johnson’s second innings haul took his figures to a phenomenal 12/15 from the match and catapulted him to the top of the league wicket takers tally, with 20 scalps at an average of 5.4.

The win leaves the Sharks more than five points clear of Morwell in second place while the Bombers remain at the bottom of the ladder.