BCA CLUB FIRSTS GRAND FINAL
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STUMPS ON DAY TWO
BROWN HILL 267 (Alex Code 84, Ryan Knowles 54, Pete Kane 35; Luke Corden 4-54) v Napoleons Sebastopol 118 and 4-18 (Matt McMahon 4-5)
A Matt McMahon blitz has all-but-secured Brown Hill the BCA club firsts title.
Napoleons-Sebastopol was left reeling 4-16 at stumps.
McMahon obliterated Naps' top order in a 4-5 haul. He was simply lethal.
Twice in the past two matches, Napoleons-Sebastopol has clawed its way back. This time looks a bit too tough for Naps.
Brown Hill bat on after tea to push its lead out to 149 runs. Bulls'number seven bat Alex Code was impressive with 84 runs before Naps' Luke Corden wiped him and the remaining two Bulls' wickets out.
Naps will resume with captain Carmen Mapatuna and Tyler Dittloff at the crease - Neil Chalmers, Nathan Doonan, Matt Ringin and Liam Rigby are all out.
They need 131 runs just to level the Bulls, who can still bat a second innings.
TEA UPDATE, DAY TWO
BROWN HILL 6-199 v NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL 118 at Eastern Oval
The Bulls are batting on. They secured the runs they needed, polished off in a Ryan Knowles boundary, to eclipse Napoleons-Sebastopol's tally an hour into play on day two.
This was not without a little drama.
Jason Knowles was dismissed lbw on the first ball of the second over, but Alex Code stepped up in his place to form a 96-run partnership with captain Ryan Knowles for the sixth wicket.
Ryan Knowles reached 54 runs but fell on a Justin Ringin delivery.
Code powered on to tea to reach 53 runs with support from veteran bat Pete Kane.
STUMPS ON DAY ONE
BROWN HILL 4-83 (Shane Harwood 33; Liam Rigby 2-17) v NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL 118 (Neil Chalmers 29, Tyler Dittloff 28; Matt McMahon 4-44, Shane Harwood 3-33, Jason Knowles 2-9) at Eastern Oval
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Bull Shane Harwood fell in the day's penultimate over - a little jab from Napoleons-Sebastopol's super spinner Justin Ringin on what was Ringin's first delivery for the final.
Even so, Brown Hill would have to be pretty confident on Saturday evening after a big day on in the Ballarat Cricket Association club firsts final.
The Bulls need 36 runs to claim the first innings as theirs in this four-day final.
How much they can pull ahead is debatable.
Bulls brothers Jason and Ryan Knowles will resume at the crease on Sunday but all other major scoring avenues have already been put back in the pavilion.
Naps' bowlers should be fairly fresh. They had 31 overs in the field to finish play. LIam Rigby bowled for 12 overs while Matt Ringin, Luke Corden, then spinners Justin Ringin and Camen Mapatuna shared the remaining load.
Harwood, dropped on six runs, chalked up 33 off 46 balls. Top-order bats Dan Davies (16 runs) and opener Jack James (18) made starts that did not really lead anywhere.
Rigby, awarded the EJ Cleary Medal on Wednesday, bowled out Chris Banwell in the fifth over and while it had looked like Davies and James found momentum, Davies was clean bowled by Corden on the first ball after 5pm drinks.
EARLIER...
Choosing to bat first, Napoleons-Sebastopol could set the chase early on day one.
Only this option, from winning the toss, meant Naps-Sebas had to face raging Brown Hill tag-team Shane Harwood and Matt McMahon first up too, in this Ballarat Cricket Association club firsts final.
Harwood bowled trademark tight, taking 3-33 off 12 overs (two maidens). McMahon, carrying the bulk of the bowling workload, nabbed 4-44 off 20.
Harwood claimed his first victim, Matt Ringin for a duck, on the first ball of the ninth over.
Then he and McMahon alternated the wicket-taking to drinks - Naps was reeling at 5-61 with captain-coach Carmen Mapatuna trying to steady his order.
The Bulls brought in Tom Bourke-Finn for a bowl, then coach Dan Davies soon after to face his former teammate head-on.
Davies sent the bails flying in his second over with the ball to dismiss Nap' Tyler Dittloff.
By tea, the Bulls had control. Naps was 7-108 and the Bulls just needed a little polish.
McMahon nabbed his fourth wicket and Jason Knowles collected the final two.
*Naps-Sebas was forced to make a late change ahead of the final. Veteran Geoff Martin was called in to replace an ill Liam Young.
BALLAN 0-13 v LUCAS 193 (Nick Young 42, Mark Gittins 38, Jake Pring 36, Kayne Wilson 32; Zac Graham 3-39, Michael Snaith 2-31, Ben Loughnane 2-57) at White Flat
REIGNING premier Lucas has set the tone on day one in the BCA district division one grand final.
Lucas captain Kayne Wilson and Nick Young formed a 50-run middle-order partnership that bolstered the team on its way to posting 193 runs on neutral White Flat.
Rival Ballan captain Mick Nolan and Michael Snaith held out a tense five over-start to their reply until stumps on day one.
The Blues bowlers had earlier put pressure on Lucas from the outset, to put Lucas at 1-8.
Lucas top-order bats Mark Gittins (38 runs) and Jake Pring (36) really steadied play.
Blue Zac Graham was in sharp form, topping the wicket count with his 3-39 off 17.1 overs (six maidens).
