Darley backed up a strong batting display with an equally accomplished bowling performance to defeat Brown Hill in its Ballarat Cricket Association firsts hit-out.
After making 291, the Lions comfortably defended the total by dismissing Brown Hill for 166. The 125-run victory takes Darley to the top of the ladder at the completion of round 5.
Sri Lankan import Hasitha Wickramasinghe produced his best game for the club taking 6-43 following his 36 runs on day one.
Darley captain-coach Heath Pritchard said he was really pleased with the all-round performance of the group and felt Wickramasinghe was starting to find his feet on Ballarat soil in a further boost to the side.
“I was really happy with how everyone bowled, to get them out for 166 on a pretty flat wicket was a good effort. All the guys bowled really well, I thought our bowling was spot on,” Pritchard said.
“That’s good for his confidence, he had a good game, 36 last week and six-for today with his off-spinners – he did really well.
“He had a couple of quiet games in the middle, but his first game was ok and this game was a beauty.”
Darley does not return to the field until January 7 given it is one of three clubs to have the bye in round 6.
Pritchard said it was good to enter the break following an impressive win and felt the side had only played one bad session of cricket this season which cost it against Mt Clear last round.
The BCA ladder has quickly produced a clear leading pack of four clubs, which the Lions are a part of, but Pritchard stressed that it did not take much to fall off the pace.
It will take a focus to finding consistent form with the bat to ensure it continues on with the momentum when it returns in the new year.
“We’ve got the bye next week so hopefully we can continue on the good form after Christmas.
“Very happy to finish with the win. We’ve probably played an hour-and-a-half of bad cricket so far, which was against Mt Clear, but apart from that our cricket’s been pretty good.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, it’s only half the season done and it’s tight and close and you can’t afford to muck up, but we go to Christmas in a pretty good state.
“Just consistency with the batting, we’ve got to make sure we keep piling on the runs each week. I think our bowling’s always been pretty good, we’ve just got to make sure we take the chances our bowlers create. It’s a pretty simple game cricket, if you bat well and you bowl well you usually win – we’ve done that in the majority of games this year."
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