Golden Point survived a scare at the hands of Napoleons-Sebastopol in Ballarat Cricket Association firsts at the Eastern Oval on Saturday.
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Napoleon-Sebastopol’s 226 always had the potential to be a tricky chase and the Pointies fell in by just two wickets with a handful of overs to spare.
One of the upsets of the season looked on the cards when the winless Naps-Sebas had the reigning premier 7-165.
Manjula De Zoysa and Matt Harris steadied the ship with a 44-run stand, but even that was no guarantee Golden Point would get over the line.
It was ultimately left to Harris, 17no, and newcomer Josh Richards, 14no, to get the last 18 runs in a nerve-wracking 20 minutes.
De Zoysa proved to be the difference with his 91 runs (10 fours, two sixes) denying a Naps-Sebas.
Matthew Messemaker took four wickets is what finished up as a frustrating day for the visitors.
EAST Ballarat, 4-236dec, completed an outright win over Ballarat-Redan, 79 and 126.
With first innings points already secured, the Hawks declared at the start of play on the second day and took 50 overs to secured maxium points to close the gap on top team Mt Clear.
Leigh Fisher was the mainstay for Ballarat-Redan with 40 (5 fours) at the top of the order at Alfredton.
Zac Jenkins, 24 (4 fours), tried hard, but once the lower order was exposed runs were handr to come by.
Ollie Hayes took 5-42 for East.
WENDOUREE and Buninyong never looked in the hunt in big run chases.
The Red Caps collapsed for 103 in reply to Mounties’ 5-378 and now find themselves 10 points outside the top four in fifth with two rounds to play.
Nathan Yates was at his menacing best in taking a match-winning 6-37 at Mt Clear.
Buninyong, 163, did a little better against North Ballarat, 9-304, but still fell well short.
Liam Rigby made 36, Matt Ringin 31 and Liam Brady 30 as Jason Crosbie snapped up 5-22 for fourth-placed North Ballarat.
BROWN Hill, 82 and 4-124, held off Darley, 1-86dec.
Darley closed declared at the start of play with first innings points already in the bag.
The Lions took four early wickets, but could not make any further inroads.
UNOFFICIAL LADDER
MT CLEAR 70
EAST BALLARAT 68
GOLDEN POINT 54
NORTH BALLARAT 52
Wendouree 42
Buninyong 36
Darley 36
Brown Hill 30
Ballarat-Redan 18
Napoleons-Sebastopol 0
NEXT ROUND (two-day fixtures)
Brown Hill v Ballarat-Redan
East Ballarat v Golden Point
Mt Clear v Darley
Naps-Sebas v Buninyong
North Ballarat v Wendouree