Yarraville Club strengthened its grip on top spot in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Senior division with a comfortable outright win over Airport West St Christophers on Saturday.
Already in a powerful position after skittling the home side for 62 last week, Yarraville Club piled on the runs early on day two to set up a massive first innings lead, declaring at 8-255.
It was an innings of solid contributions all round, with five players scoring 30 or more runs in a good sign for the depth of the batting order.
Joseph Blake (34), Justin Baker (31), Adam Contessa (40) and James Damjanovski (34) were all important throughout the day, but it was a belligerent knock from keeper Ben Tupper that set up the declaration nicely.
Tupper hit 11 boundaries and a six on his way to a rapid 56 not out, allowing the side to declare with a lead of 193 and plenty of overs to try and go for full points.
In the end, the Clubbers needed less than 30 overs to wrap up the outright win, with wickets tumbling rapidly after a second wicket stand of 41.
Will Sheridan blew away the top order to finish with 4-41, as the hosts lost 9-42 to be dismissed for just 92 in their second innings, Damjanovski cleaning up the tail with 4-21.
The win sees Yarraville Club with an early season 10-point lead on top of the ladder.
In north west games, Altona North fell short chasing Keilor Park’s 199 from day one, but came good with the ball late in the day to salvage some important percentage.
A steady stream of wickets early in the day cost Altona North a genuine shot at chasing down the target, but the bright point of the day was keeper Haydn Wilkinson, who registered a stylish 50 as the home side was dismissed for 143.
This meant the hosts had to bowl again, and they made the most of the opportunity as Sandeep Mandalika snared career-best figures of 6-22 in keeping the visitors to 8-81 declared.
With the exception of Keilor Park opener Ethan McShanag (46), most visiting batsmen struggled for runs, at one stage losing 6-8 before the declaration.
Altona North finished on 2-24 off four overs late in the day.
Footscray United came out of their clash with Aberfeldie in bad shape, narrowly avoiding an outright loss as Aberfeldie hit them to all corners of the ground.
Paying for being dismissed for just 76 last week, Footscray United spent much of Saturday in the field, as Aberfeldie made 2-218 declared in just 44 overs. United fared better, with captain Andrew Ford making 58 in their second innings total of 182. This left Aberfeldie with 41 to make off three overs. They finished on 2-29 and had to be content with a first innings win.
