Darley's star opening batsman Danza Hyatt was given out for 25 off just 27 balls after he played at a ball from Wendouree opening bowler Jackson Sleep.

Wendouree skipper Ryan Simmons said the ball had initially hit Hyatt's bat and had popped up and was heading towards the stumps when he touched it a second time.

"It's not one I've seen before, it was pretty lucky for us because he was looking terrific," he said.

The dismissal triggered a mini-Darley collapse as it fell to 4-37 in the chase of Wendouree's 6-200.

And it became too much for the home side, which was eventually dismissed for 154.

It was a strange day all round with an earlier five-run penalty given against Wendouree and then a series of run outs punctuated the Darley chase. In all four Darley players fell to the fielding of the Red Caps.

"We did field pretty well," Simmons said. "We had two direct hits and then the last couple were when they were chasing some quick runs.

"They're a great side Darley, the outfield was a little bit slower than we've been playing on, the pitch a little slower, so we thought 200 was a good score."

Opener Cole Roscholler top scored with 82, taking his season's average to above 50.

"The batting has been going very well," Simmons said. "We've been fortunate that the openers have been in good form and we've played on good wickets that have suited our players.

"We've got some real class in the top order if they get in, they get going."

With Mount Clear's losing, Wendouree's win means it would take a calamity next week against East Ballarat for the Red Caps to miss top spot.

AN unbeaten 97 from Joshua White has propelled Golden Point to a huge win over the second-placed Mount Clear, giving itself every chance to hold onto its prized top six position.

The five-wicket victory was scored largely thanks to a 127-run third wicket stand between White and Manjula De Zoysa who provided great support with 55.

Mount Clear will be ruing the constant flow of wickets after players had got starts as the reason for the defeat. Tail-ender Darren Fletcher top scored with an unbeaten 34, but eight players made it into double figures, but failed to go on with the job.

Golden Point vice-captain Pete Appleton said bowling partnerships had set the match up in the first innings.

"While I thought Simon Ogilvie's 3-29 was the stand out, everybody chipped in and did their bit," he said.

"It was a really good all-round team performance."

Appleton said the loss of two early wickets sent a bit of a scare through the bench, but consolidating batting from White and De Zoysa steadied the ship before they were able to go on to secure the points.

"They (Mount Clear) were clearly the favourites, but we turned up when we needed to," he said.

Appleton said next week's final round clash with North Ballarat shaped as a "first final".

NORTH Ballarat wasted no time in preparing for that same do-or-die final round clash, chasing down a competitive Buninyong's score of 8-185, reaching the target in the 29^th over.

It was a crucial and clinical win for the northerners who needed the victory to maintain it's hold on its position in the top six.

At the halfway mark, it looked liked Buninyong's score of 188 could be a testing one. Rupinder Singh (62) and Liam Rigby (33) were the keys to the Buninyong innings putting on a 101-run third wicket partnership helping it to a competitive total.

But North openers Mick Nolan (41 off 46 balls) and Leigh Lorenzen (52 off 37 balls) set the stage for a quick chase.

Jonah Healey then smashed his way to an unbeaten 52 off just 34 balls to get North home in the big win.

A CENTURY from East Ballarat opener Harry Ganley has led his side to a commanding win over Brown Hill.

Ganley led his side brilliantly with 113 and was able assisted by Bradley Whittaker who made 66 as East posted a mammoth 280.

Early wickets in the Brown Hill innings stifled any hope the home side had of making the runs.

Prabath Priyankara, batting at number eight, added some respectability to the Brown Hill total, making an unbeaten 65, but Brown Hill fell for 170.

East's Josh Brown finished with the day's best bowling figures of 5-56.

Brown Hill skipper Tom Bourke-Finn said the East Ballarat batting had got away from his side.

"It was disappointing, we didn't bowl overly well and weren't as consistent with the ball as we would have liked," he said. "In contrast, they bowled better with the new ball at the top order."

Bourke-Finn said Brown Hill would now concentrate on playing finals spoiler next week when it clashes with Ballarat-Redan.

"They obviously will need to win to make it, so hopefully we can upset the final six as best we can. That will be our goal."

BALLARAT-REDAN had little trouble in accounting for Napoleons-Sebastopol in the final match.

Batting first, Ballarat-Redan posted a strong 5-220 with opener Zac Jenkins leading the way with 88.

As it turned out, Jenkins' score on its own would have been enough as Napoleons-Sebastopol was skittled for just 76 in just 31.3 overs.

Jack Landwehr the pick of the Ballarat-Redan bowlers with 4-10.

BATTING

Harry Ganley (East Ballarat) 113, Joshua White (Golden Point) 97no, Zac Jenkins (Ballarat-Redan) 88, Cole Roscholler (Wendouree) 82, Bradley Whittaker (East Ballarat) 67,

BOWLING

Josh Brown (East Ballarat) 5-56, Ryan Knowles (Brown Hill) 5-57, Jack Landwehr (Ballarat-Redan) 4-10, Simon Ogilvie (Golden Point) 3-29, Ash McCafferty (North Ballarat) 3-35

MT CLEAR INNINGS

JM Smith b D McDonald 19

S Nicholson c T McKenzie b S Ogilvie 28

J Jeffrey c J Pegg b S Ogilvie 12

AJ George c J Bambury b S Ogilvie 0

MG Ward c T McKenzie b D McDonald 33

JP Burns c M De Zoysa b D White 25

T Landt c J Pegg b M De Zoysa 17

DN Fletcher not out 34

JP Butler c D McDonald b M De Zoysa 0

G Trevenen not out 10Extras (nb 0, w 4, b 2, lb 4) 10

Total 8-188 Overs 50

FOW: 27 (JM Smith) 57 (S Nicholson) 57 (AJ George) 64 (J Jeffrey) 115 (JP Burns) 130 (MG Ward) 148 (T Landt) 154 (JP Butler)

Bowling

D McDonald 10-2-2-39

D White 7-2-1-20

S Ogilvie 10-2-3-29

P Appleton 10-1-0-44

J Lewis 5-0-0-16

M De Zoysa 8-1-2-34

GOLDEN POINT INNINGS

J Pegg b G Trevenen 4

S Ogilvie lbw b G Trevenen 4

J White not out 97

M De Zoysa b T Landt 55

S Tung b JP Butler 4

J Lewis c J Jeffrey b AJ George 9

D White not out 10

Extras (nb 3, w 1, b 4, lb 0) 8

Total 5-191 Overs 44.5

FOW: 7 (S Ogilvie) 12 (J Pegg) 139 (M De Zoysa) 145 (S Tung) 170 (J Lewis)

Bowling

G Trevenen 5-0-2-24

JP Butler 7.5-1-1-35

NZ Hucker 5-1-0-15

JP Burns 7-0-0-35

DN Fletcher 3-1-0-11

S Nicholson 6-0-0-28

AJ George 10-0-1-32

T Landt 1-0-1-7

BALLARAT-REDAN

Z Jenkins c S Dissanayaka b C Hucker 88

M Riding lbw b S Calder 14

M Sandford c D Scott b J Tissera 33

J Hayes b D Kierce 6

C Egan lbw b D Kierce 0

B Jones not out 46

R Aikman not out 12

Extras (nb 0, w 17, b 2, lb 2) 21

Total 5-220 Overs 50

FOW: 37 (M Riding) 100 (M Sandford) 112 (J Hayes) 112 (C Egan) 191 (Z Jenkins)

Bowling

S Calder 10-3-1-27

D York 6-1-0-23

L Storey 10-0-0-66

S Dissanayaka 10-0-0-37

C Hucker 7-1-1-33

D Kierce 5-0-2-17

J Tissera 2-0-1-13

NAPOLEONS-SEBASTOPOL INNINGS

J Tissera c & b M Aikman 10

D Scott run out (B Hosemans) 6

S Dissanayaka c M Aikman b N Patrikeos 16

C Hucker c R Aikman b M Aikman 0

TA Balzan b J Landwehr 6

AP Balzan b B Jones 11

S Calder c C Egan b J Landwehr 2

SO Dunne not out 2

L Storey st R Aikman b Z Jenkins 0

D Kierce lbw b J Landwehr 3

D York b J Landwehr 13

Extras (nb 0, w 6, b 0, lb 1) 7

Total 76

Overs 31.3

FOW: 11 (J Tissera) 25 (D Scott) 33 (S Dissanayaka) 33 (C Hucker) 52 (TA Balzan) 56 (AP Balzan) 56 (S Calder) 58 (L Storey) 61 (D Kierce) 76 (D York)

Bowling

N Patrikeos 5-2-1-17

M Aikman 6-3-2-23

B Jones 6-1-1-10

J Landwehr 9.3-4-4-10

Z Jenkins 2-1-1-4

M Sandford 1-0-0-4

M Riding 1-0-0-5

J Hayes 1-0-0-2

BUNINYONG INNINGS

R Hind c L Lorenzen b J Coxall 1

R Singh run out 62

L Brady lbw b J Coxall 0

L Rigby b V Dabra 33

S Squire c JF Healey b V Dabra 9

CR Gell not out 37

M Flynn lbw b AS McCafferty 0

LR Mason c JF Healey b AS McCafferty 6

C Palmer b AS McCafferty 3B

J Ryan not out 1

Extras (nb 1, w 18, b 6, lb 8) 33

Total 8-185 Overs 50

FOW: 2 (R Hind) 2 (L Brady) 103 (L Rigby) 119 (R Singh) 133 (S Squire) 137 (M Flynn) 159 (LR Mason) 175 (C Palmer)

Bowling

AS McCafferty 10-0-3-35

J Coxall 6-0-2-32

MJ Nicholson 5-1-0-19

JF Healey 5-1-0-14

V Dabra 10-0-2-28

L Lorenzen 8-1-0-21

S Jackson 6-1-0-22

NORTH BALLARAT INNINGS

L Lorenzen c L Rigby b M Flynn 52

M Nolan c BJ Ryan b G McLeod 41

MP Zakynthinos c CR Gell b L Rigby 7

SA Vanderwert not out 19

JF Heatley not out 52

Extras (nb 0, w 12, b 3, lb 0) 15

Total 3-186 Overs 28.1

FOW: 91 (L Lorenzen) 114 (M Nolan) 114 (MP Zakynthinos)

Bowling

LR Mason 4-0-0-52

C Palmer 4.1-0-0-27

L Rigby 7-1-1-35

G McLeod 7-1-1-36

M Flynn 3-0-0-12

R Singh 3-1-0-8

WENDOUREE 6-200 def DARLEY 154

WENDOUREE INNINGS

C Roscholler c M Ekanayaka b H Wickramasinghe 82

S Miller b RN Khwaja 29

TL Le Lievre c M Ekanayaka b H Wickramasinghe 22

M Begbie c Dr Locke b RN Khwaja 23

HI Pyke c D Hoey b M Ekanayaka 15

T Maple not out 12

OI Mahncke lbw b M Ekanayaka 2

J Peeters not out 4

Extras (nb 1, w 3, b 2, lb 5) 11

Total 6-200 Overs 50

FOW: 55 (S Miller) 140 (TL Le Lievre) 147 (C Roscholler) 169 (HI Pyke) 186 (M Begbie) 191 (OI Mahncke)

Bowling

M Ekanayaka 10-2-2-30

B Longhurst 10-1-0-27

Da Locke 3-0-0-16

RN Khwaja 10-0-2-29

H Wickramasinghe 10-0-2-56

DP Hyatt 7-1-0-35

DARLEY INNINGS

A Taylor c ? b J Peeters 0

DP Hyatt obstructed field 25

B Barnes c M Begbie b JC Sleep 0

H Wickramasinghe c OI Mahncke b T Maple 59

RN Khwaja c M Begbie b JC Sleep 0

M Ekanayaka run out (S Miller) 12

Dr Locke b TL Le Lievre 20

BJ Ward run out (HI Pyke) 4

B Longhurst run out (S Miller) 10

D Hoey not out 4

Da Locke run out (S Miller) 2

Extras (nb 0, w 5, b 1, lb 7 pen 5) 18

Total 154 Overs 45.3

FOW: 0 (A Taylor) 17 (B Barnes) 37 (DP Hyatt) 37 (RN Khwaja) 75 (M Ekanayaka) 133 (Dr Locke) 133 (H Wickramasinghe) 142 (BJ Ward) 149 (B Longhurst) 154 (Da Locke)

Bowling

J Peeters 8-2-1-23

JC Sleep 7-1-2-25

L Argall 10-2-0-28

R Simmonds 8-2-0-18

S Miller 4-0-0-18

TL Le Lievre 5.3-0-1-22

T Maple 3-1-1-7

EAST BALLARAT INNINGS

L Hodgins c J Waller b P Priyankara 2

H Ganley retired not out 113

B Whittaker c F Hunt b V Pushpakumara 66

T Dixon lbw b R Knowles 18

J Brown not out 21

J Eyers b R Knowles 3

H Givvens not out 14

Extras (nb 9, w 18, b 1, lb 7) 35

Total 280 Overs 50

FOW: 2 (L Hodgins) 212 (B Whittaker) 231 (T Dixon)

Bowling

P Priyankara 8-0-3-69

T Bourke-Finn 4-1-0-11

F Hunt 4-0-0-35J Knowles 10-0-0-45

A Mohammed 5-1-0-18

V Pushpakumara 10-0-2-43

R Knowles 9-0-5-57

BROWN HILL INNINGS

Total 170 Overs 38.5

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