MT CLEAR 135 v BROWN HILL 3-99
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at Mt Clear No.1
MT CLEAR (2nd) - BROWN HILL (5th)
The Bulls resume their moderate run chase with Dan Davies, 24, and Shane Harwood, 22, at the crease.
Brown Hill did not have the greatest start, losing a wicket before scoring and then having two wickets fall at 52, but by the end of the day it looked secure enough.
Davies and Harwood are two of the form batsmen of the competition, with each having a century to his name and averaging 86 and 91 respectively.
Importantly for the Bulls there is still plenty of batting to come with the hard-hitting Ryan Knowles and Alex Code, who made a century last time he was in the middle.
Mt Clear will need to do something extraordinary to keep its unbeaten record intact. That will have to fall back on the likes of Nathan Yates, Daniel Hopkinson and Jarrod Burns. They are an experienced crew, but even this looks beyond them being able to salvage the points.
EAST BALLARAT 112 v WENDOUREE 4-84
at Russell Square
EAST BALLARAT (8TH) - WENDOUREE (4th)
IN a round in which big totals have so far been hard to come by, Wendouree goes into day two needing only 29 runs with six wickets in hand to overhaul East.
Not for the first time this season the Hawks' attack has little to play with in attempting to turn this match on its heads.
Their total was never going to be enough and they did not too bad to take four Wendouree scalps.
The Red Caps would naturally have preferred to get to stumps with more wickets in hand, but it did not do much damage considering that Matt Smith is still in the shed.
Smith made half centuries in each his three innings in the middle order for an average of 107. Throw in Liam Brady already at the crease and if its difficult to imagine Josh Brown, Ollie Hayes, Adam Ranson and Peter Colbourne getting enough wickets enough to stop Wendouree's push up the ladder.
BALLARAT-REDAN v GOLDEN POINT 4-385
at City Oval
BALLARAT-REDAN (7TH) - GOLDEN POINT (3rd)
Two centuries. This is the minimum Ballarat-Redan batsmen need to produce if they are to have any chance off getting in touch of this target.
There are a few Two Swords due with the bat and it is a gross understatement to say that they strike form right now.
Ballarat-Redan has twice topped 200 - 220 and 8-281 - but this is all together different.
Anthony Taylor, Jayden Hayes, Zac Jenkins and David Sproules have each made half centuries. Ballarat-Redan is going to need this and more - most probably from skipper Bobby Hinds and Allister Edmends. It will be imperative that they not only keep wickets in hand early, but that the runs come at a healthy rate.
Golden Point does not have the strongest attack in the competition, especially with Simon Ogilvie and Dan White carrying injury issues. Despite this, the Pointies will defend this total through patience and persistence.
DARLEY 1-65 v CORONET CITY 34 and 5-61
at Darley Park
DARLEY (1st) - CORONET CITY (10th)
DARLEY will move clear at the top of the Ballarat Cricket Association firsts ladder on Saturday.
The Lions will complete an outright win against Coronet City.
Napoleons-Sebastopol denied Darley maximum points last round, but there no chance the home outfit will come up short this time with Coronet City having just a 30-run advantage with only five second innings wickets in the bank.
All Coronet City can do is occupy the crease as long as possible and this will depend largely Brad Laurent, who will resume on 15 and Shane Davies. Laurent made 72 in the opening round and Davies has shown he can stick around. They will need to dig deep.
It is impossible to imagine Coronet City keep the likes of Brad Barnes, Heath Pritchard and Harry Killoran out for too long though.
NORTH BALLARAT 144 v NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL 0-9
at St Patrick's College No.2
NORTH BALLARAT (9th) - NAPS-SEBAS (6th)
DOES North Ballarat have enough runs? Normally the answer would be no, but it is impossible to be decisive either way given the early season form of each of these teams.
There is no question that the opening day belonged to Napoleons-Sebastopol, with it not losing a wicket in the last 11 overs of the way being vital to its cause.
The Roosters desperately needed to get at least one break-through and when that did not happen they failed to get the morale boost they needed.
Nobody needs a win more than North. Just as Adam Eddy wanted, it has been competitive, but has not been able to find that extra ingredient needed for success.
Naps-Sebas has been below par. They have had trouble getting a full strength team on the park, but cannot be an excuse this time. This is a must win going into the twenty20 matches.