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Stumps, day two: Wendouree ends the day at 1-0, with the loss of its night watchmen. It leads by 65 runs and is in the box seat leading into next weekend.
6.10pm: Darley has struck! Wendouree, facing an awkward time at the crease, is 1-0, however it was the wicket of night watchmen Sam Jackson. Matthew Cape doing the damage.
5.50pm: Darley are all out. The final wicket has fallen and the Lions post 203 runs in response to Wendouree’s 268. We will have a short break before the Red Caps return to the crease.
5.45pm: The final pair have put on 24 runs as the Darley tail offers some resistance. 9-196, 72 behind Wendouree with 10 overs left.
5.25pm: Another wicket! Simmonds bowls David Hoey and Darley slumps to 9-172, 64.2 gone.
5.15pm: Darley moves to 8-167 from 62 overs as it looks to hang on in this year’s grand final.
5.05pm: WICKET. Cape is out. Dismissed for 45, leaving the Lions 8-156 and in massive danger of falling too far behind Wendouree, even with a possible two more days to play.
5pm: 7-153 off 58 overs. Matthew Cape has moved to 45 and remains Darley’s only hope of getting near the Red Caps’ 268.
4.45pm: That Darley ship has again gone off course. Two more wickets have fallen as the Lions look to be in all sorts of trouble. The scoreboard reads 7-139 from 54 overs, placing Wendouree in a commanding position.
Ryan Simmonds has three wickets while Jack Peeters and Tom Le Lievre have two each.
4.25pm: Darley has steadied the ship to move to 5-123. Matthew Cape is on 22 while Hayden Jamieson is on 7. It’s a crucial stage of the match, if the Lions can remain strong over the next hour they will keep themselves alive for not only this weekend’s result, but retain opportunity for next weekend.
3.50pm: And the Red Caps have another one straight after tea! Brad Barnes is caught by Le Lievre from the bowling of Jack Peeters for 5. Darley 5-103.
3.40pm: In a short period of time, Wendouree has swung the game in its favour. Darley has slumped from 0-76 to be 4-103 from 41 overs.
Ryan Simmonds claimed the wickets of Hasitha Wickramasinghe (41) and Jake Wilkie (0) in consecutive balls to have the Lions 2-76, before Heath Pritchard was trapped leg before by Tom Le Lievre for a 17-ball duck.
Darley fell to 4-92 when Le Lievre had Lachlan Herring caught by Heath Pyke for 42.
Matt Cape and Brad Barnes are now in the middle.
2.30pm: 0-72 off 23 overs. Darley is still without loss and while it is scoring at around three an over, having wickets in hand will set the Lions up for a strong afternoon.
2.15pm: Wickramasinghe has moved to 30 while Herring is up to 24 runs as the Lions look impressive after 19 overs – 0-54.
2pm: 0-47 off 17 overs. Ryan Simmonds and Jack Peeters are now operating at each end.
1.45pm: 0-26 off 12 overs. Darley has moved along to 26 runs without loss from 12 overs. Some tight bowling from Wall and Jackson is keeping the pressure on, but no breakthrough yet.
Day two’s opening half-hour: Darley has enjoyed a solid first half-hour in its pursuit of Wendouree’s 268 runs – 0-18 after 8 overs.
Lachlan Herring (7 runs) will be the key wicket of the day, having made three centuries this season and averaged 66.3 runs – he has shown the ability to bat through an entire day. He is joined by fellow opener Hasitha Wickramasinghe (11 runs).
Jonty Wall and Sam Jackson have opened the bowling for Wendouree.
Stumps, day one: At one stage Wendouree looked poised to post over 300, but late wickets from Darley pair Heath Pritchard (5-61) and Matthew Cape (2-70) saw the Red Caps bowled out in the 80th over. Nonetheless, Wendouree will be pleased with its total of 268. Liam Brady top-scoring with 77.
5.45pm: Darley has made a crucial breakthrough. Heath Pritchard dismissed Tom Le Lievre, who made an impressive 56, to give the Lions a much-needed wicket. After 69 overs, Wendouree is 5-203
5.30pm: 4-182 off 66 overs. This pair is putting the foot down for Wendouree. Brady (53 runs) has brought up his 50 while Le Lievre, after a slow start, has raced to 48. They’ve put on 83 for the fifth wicket.
5.15pm: The Red Caps have picked up the run rate, Le Lievre has moved to 31 and taken Wendouree to 4-161 from its 63 overs.
5pm: 4-141. Brady is approaching his half-century, he is 48 while Le Lievre is 12.
4.45pm: 4-127 off 56 overs. Liam Brady 38, Tom Le Lievre 8.
4.30pm: 4-116. Brady is looking set and bodes as the key wicket for the Lions at the moment. Le Lievre is on 2. The Darley attack have been all individual wicket-takers Pritchard, Barnes, Longhurst and Rupasingha.
4.15pm: 4-101 off 47 overs. Sajith Rupasingha has got the massive wicket of Heath Pyke. The dangerous batsmen never got going, making 18 off 74 balls. Tom Le Lievre comes to the crease to join Brady, who is on 21.
3.15pm: 3-86 after 38 overs. Brady is on 15 runs while Pyke has moved to 9 ahead of the tea break.
3pm: 3-74. Inform batsmen Heath Pyke and Liam Brady are now at the crease. Pyke scored 126 runs in the final round of the season while Brady hit 66 in the semi-final. 32 overs gone.
2.45pm: Another wicket has fallen, and it’s the key scalp of skipper Cole Roscholler (37 runs). Ben Longhurst has sent him packing and the Red Caps are 3-62 off 28 overs.
2.31pm: WICKET. The 47-run partnership has been broken by Brad Barnes. Gavin Webb out for 15. 2-57 after 23.4 overs.
2.30pm: 1-57. Brad Barnes has bowled four overs as the first change and has been joined by Ben Longhurst in attack. The Wendouree batsmen are starting to look very settled at the crease and are scoring freely. Roscoller is leading the charge, 35 runs, while Webb is on 15.
The first of many key periods of the grand final, can Wendouree stem the flow?
2.15pm: Wendouree move to 1-46 after 20 overs. Roscholler and Webb have put on 36 runs. Pritchard has been brilliant with the ball, 1-11 from his 10 overs – including seven maidens.
First hour: Wendouree won the toss and elected to bat, but Darley captain-coach Heath Pritchard struck early to dismiss Mat Begbie for five.
But the Red Caps have steadied the ship to be 1-33 after 16 overs. Cole Roscholler (12 runs) and Gavin Webb (14 runs) are at the crease.