Kate Withers
CRICKET
LVDCL
A GRADE
Third plays second this weekend when Jeeralang-Boolarra hosts Centrals to tip off round five action in the LVDCL’s A grade competition.
Centrals romped home to a huge 133-run win over Traralgon West in round four, thanks largely to the efforts of Corey Pollard and Ross Allen, who both made 38.
Jeeralang-Boolarra also enjoyed a win at the weekend, albeit a narrow one over Yallourn North, with skipper Stan Urbanic’s 47 at number seven and Anand Sikri’s unbeaten 41 at number 10 the tail-wag the Panthers needed.
Urbanic has also held up the Jeeralang-Boolarra attack and has seven wickets to date, as does Centrals’ Marc Fenech.
Ethan Foley’s 41 not out helped Centrals to victory when the sides met in round one’s Twenty20 fixture and Tye Hourigan took 3/21.
Jeeralang-Boolarra and Centrals will play on Saturday at George Cain Oval from 11.30am.
Yallourn North v Latrobe
The Bombers were made to wait longer for their maiden LVDCL win after falling to Jeeralang-Boolarra in round four, despite the best efforts of openers Toby Murphy and Matt Heeps who combined for 47.
In contrast, Latrobe have enjoyed a welcome return to form this year and have three wins and a washout draw to their name.
Hayden Kimpton’s 75 against Trafalgar was the toast of the innings at the weekend and his 103 to date puts him atop the batting aggregate leader board.
Mark Lawrence (25) and stalwart Anthony Bloomfield (27) also helped hold up the order at six and seven, respectively, to help the side to a healthy 7/206 after 50 overs.
When the sides last met in round two, Yallourn North’s Stephen Boltong (48) was the only player to make it past 15 in the run chase as his side fell well short of the Sharks’ 7/135.
English import Luke Sumner has led the attack at the Rock so far this season and leads the competition with nine wickets, two clear of anyone else.
Yallourn North and Latrobe will play on Saturday at McGregor Reserve from 11.30am
Traralgon West v Trafalgar
Traralgon West will head back home in search of their maiden LVDCL win this weekend and standing in their way is Trafalgar.
The Eagles came agonisingly close to kick-starting their season with a win and ending a long hoodoo in round one, but came up five runs short.
Nilantha Thillekarathna has been their main source of fire power and sits second on the batting aggregate board with 91 runs from just two games.
The Ships fell to Latrobe in round four despite the best efforts of Brodie Burgess (56) and Arvind Bharadwaj (28), who stood up before the wickets started to tumble to see them all out for 154.
Traralgon West and Trafalgar will play on Saturday at Traralgon West Sports Complex from 11.30am.
