BROWN Hill's opening bowlers Prabath Priyankara and Tom Bourke-Finn have set-up their side classic win over Golden Point in a test of nerves in round 10 of the Ballarat Cricket Association firsts.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But while the bowlers dominated the clash at Western Oval, it was a different story at other venues across the competition, headlined by an outstanding unbeaten 151 from Darley's Danza Hyatt in his side's big win over Buninyong.
Wendouree opener Sam Miller backed up last week's century with another unbeaten knock of 83 against Nepoleon's Sebastopol while Mount Clear and East Ballarat were also big winners.
At one point, the clash at Western Oval looked liked it would be in for an early finish after Golden Point's top order collapsed.
A three wicket over from Priyankara started the rot, and a fourth from skipper Bourke-Finn had Golden Point at 4-9. Two more soon after from Bourke-Finn saw the score at 6-21.
It took a solid 52 from Daniel White to give Golden Point a competitive total of 120 and at one stage, it looked like being enough as Brown Hill's top-order collapsed to be 5-59. But an aggressive 41 from 46 balls from Carter Horsley, 31 from Jason Knowles and an anchoring 30 from Viraj Pushpakumara were enough to get Brown Hill home with four wickets in hand.
Bourke-Finn said after two wins in the past three weeks confidence was building at the club.
"It did get a bit tight when we were 5-60 odd, but it was a fantastic win," he said.
"The bowlers all stuck really well to the plans. They had a couple od lower order partnerships, but we were able to stick at it."
Bourke-Finn said Friday's rain meant the wicket was set-up for the new ball bowlers.
"There was a bit of deck early, made the most of it."
He and Priyankara bowled the first 15 overs of the match and he admitted there was a thought to continue to bowl 10 overs each.
"There was a temptation to keep going but by then we were both in need of a break."
Premier Darley is back in the groove thanks to a season-high score from Hyatt who sent a warning to the rest of the competition.
Hyatt led Darley to 3-256. In reply, Buninyong was always behind the run rate, but made Darley work for the points, finishing at 9-197.
Darley coach Brian Wheelahan said, by his own admission, Hyatt had been a bit of a lean patch.
"He sets himself high standards and he knows he's a professional player," he said.
"It wasn't as destructive as you might think, he was only on 80 after 40 overs, but he went berserk in the last 10 overs.
"Our bowlers were terrific and to Buninyong's credit they also got close to 200, we thought anything around 200 was a par score. We dropped four or five catches, but overall it was really good to get our mojo back."
Wendouree opener Sam Miller has now made 191 runs in two weeks without being dismissed as he led his side to a convincing win over Napoleons-Sebastopol.
His 83 not out, back up an unbeaten 110 last week. His form sees him with a season's average of 66 as he helped his team to a seven-wicket win over Napoleons-Sebastopol.
Napoleons-Sebastopol set what looked a competitive 150 thanks largely to a fifth-50 of the season from Sajith Dissanayaka. He topped scored with 75.
Top team Mount Clear overcame some middle-order nerves to score a three-wicket win over North Ballarat while East Ballarat's 204 was more than enough for a big win over Ballarat Redan who was bundled out for 129.
East opening bowler Oliver Hayes was a clear stand-out with the ball and finished with 4-11 off 10 overs.