Yarraville’s bid for a desperately needed outright result met stubborn resistance from Hoppers Crossing in sub-district cricket at Yarraville Oval on Saturday.
Eagles’ captain Nathan Allen could not have devised a better plan, and his players could not have executed the plan any better, but they could only tip their hat to the Hoppers Crossing batsmen after the visitors shafted their plan and forced them to settle on the six points reaped from the first day.
“Especially after we set up on day one, we thought we could have a red-hot crack at winning outright, but they’re not very easy to come by,” Eagles’ top order batsman Matthew Love said.
“They dug in and made it hard for our bowlers to take consecutive wickets.”
Yarraville is a long way back from the top six and needs an outright result to get back into the mix. After totally dominating the opening day, this was a golden opportunity for the Eagles to take maximum points.
Yarraville batted the first 10 overs on day two to build a 113-run lead before the declaration. Love was sensational with 129, including 14 fours and five sixes, while Josh Hahnel (57) making his second half century of the summer.
With 70 overs left on day two, the Eagles felt they had a huge chance of getting the 10 wickets needed to snare the outright win.
But Hoppers Crossing’s batsmen did what they failed to do on day one, and dug in to make 6-173, surviving until the close of play.
“He [Allen] tried everything, threw the ball around, but they were just pretty stubborn,” Love said.
Yarraville is 15 points out of the top six and face seventh-placed Melton in a do-or-die two-day game on the road starting on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Williamstown will spend another week at the top of the ladder after a five-wicket win over Noble Park.
After a slow start in their search for the 192 target, Brent McMinn (82) and Mitchell Streiff (75no) carried the Seagulls to victory with entertaining knocks – McMinn hit eight fours and two sixes while Streiff blasted three fours and five sixes.
Altona moved up to third after thrashing Endeavour Hills in a first innings that included a seven-wicket haul by opening bowler Shannon Clarke.
In the Premier Cricket, Footscray Edgewater has the upper hand against Carlton heading into the second day’s play at Merv Hughes Oval on Saturday.
The Bulldogs sit at 1-31 in reply to the Blues’ 216. The Blues were stymied early in the day by the five-wicket haul of Dogs’ spinner Jeremy Hart (5-89).
