Despite a batting masterclass from Red Caps star opener Sam Miller, who made 78 off 76 balls in the chase, North caused the boilover, after smashing its way to 297 from 48.4 overs, and keeping its premiership hopes alive from sixth place.

While only nine overs were bowled on Saturday, North's openers Leigh Lorenzen and Mick Nolan made their intentions clear, smashing 47 before the rain set in. While that in the end counted for naught as the scores were re-set for Sunday, it was North weren't prepared to lay down against a team who had a nothing-to-lose attitude, knowing it couldn't be knocked out.

It proved advantageous for North as Lorenzen and Nolan got the side off to a 71-one run opening stand before Ash McCafferty took the game away from the Red Caps with a scintillating knock off just 40 balls to see his side at one stage 1-191 off 30 overs.

Wendouree's loss meant it is curtains for second and third East Ballarat and Mount Clear. In a thrilling contest, Golden Point chased East's middling total of 9-153, scoring a one-wicket win with 11 balls left.

It was a case of patience makes perfect for the Golden Point batters, but a stunning final spell from Josh Brown nearly saw East snatch the game in the final stages.

Brown's 5-41 including two first-ball LBWs against Golden Point tailenders. In the end, the cool heads of Andrew Warrick and Pete Appleton at 11, who survived four clutch balls before Warrick took strike, saw the Pointees home.

Mount Clear succumbed after its batting failed for the second week in a row, chasing a moderate Darley score.

At one stage, Darley slumped to 7-71 but all-rounder Rahmatullah Khwaja rescued his side with 71 to help his side to 9-139.

Mount Clear's top order got the side off to a solid enough start in the chase, reaching 3-62. But once skipper Jarrod Burns was dismissed for 15 off Khwaja's bowling, the wheels fell off with Mount Clear out for 103.

L Lorenzen c C Roscholler b TL Le Lievre 39

M Nolan lbw b L Argall 66

AS McCafferty b S Miller 72

V Dabra b S Miller 0

JF Healey c T Maple b TL Le Lievre 67

MP Zakynthinos c OI Mahncke b S Miller 6

SA Vanderwert c C Roscholler b S Miller 10

S Jackson c OI Mahncke b L Argall 3

DL Achison c R Simmonds b L Argall 1

MJ Nicholson run out (J Peeters, OI Mahncke) 6

J Coxall not out 0

Extras (nb 2, w 10, b 8, lb 7) 27

Total 297 (48.4 overs)

FOW: 73 (L Lorenzen) 191 (AS McCafferty) 191 (V Dabra) 195 (M Nolan) 223 (MP Zakynthinos) 240 (SA Vanderwert) 251 (S Jackson) 268 (DL Achison) 297 (JF Healey) 297 (MJ Nicholson)

J Peeters 7-0-0-45

T Maple 8-0-0-47

JC Sleep 4-0-0-21

TL Le Lievre 6.4-0-2-56

R Simmonds 3-0-0-25

S Miller 10-0-4-54

L Argall 10-2-3-34

C Roscholler c DL Achison b J Coxall 5

S Miller c JF Healey b L Lorenzen 78

TL Le Lievre lbw b AS McCafferty 0

M Begbie c M Nolan b S Jackson 8

HI Pyke b S Jackson 10

T Maple st M Nolan b V Dabra 24

OI Mahncke c MJ Nicholson b V Dabra 11

J Peeters c V Dabra b L Lorenzen 9

R Simmonds not out 12

L Argall c AS McCafferty b V Dabra 13

JC Sleep c J Coxall b V Dabra 1

Extras (nb 0, w 13, b 2, lb 1) 16

Total 187 (41.3 overs)

FOW: 12 (C Roscholler) 18 (TL Le Lievre) 42 (M Begbie) 76 (HI Pyke) 134 (S Miller) 141 (T Maple) 158 (J Peeters) 161 (OI Mahncke) 184 (L Argall) 187 (JC Sleep)

NORTH BALLARAT BOWLING

AS McCafferty 7-2-1-13

J Coxall 6-0-1-34

S Jackson 7-0-2-33

MJ Nicholson 6-0-0-32

V Dabra 7.3-0-4-41

L Lorenzen 8-2-2-31

L Hodgins lbw b D McDonald 5

H Ganley c T McKenzie b A Warrick 4

T Dixon c A Warrick b S Ogilvie 19

J Eyers c T McKenzie b D White 6

T Walton c S Ogilvie b P Appleton 35

K Eyers b A Warrick 10

H Givvens c D White b M De Zoysa 10

C Jerram c A Warrick b M De Zoysa 30

J Brown run out (J Pegg) 8

DJ Thomson not out 13

O Hayes not out 2

Extras (nb 1, w 7, b 0, lb 3) 11

Total 9-153 (cc)

FOW: 13 (L Hodgins) 13 (H Ganley) 41 (J Eyers) 53 (T Dixon) 81 (K Eyers) 97 (H Givvens) 98 (T Walton) 109 (J Brown) 150 (C Jerram)

A Warrick 7-0-2-22

D McDonald 6-3-1-12

D White 10-2-1-24

S Ogilvie 8-1-1-21

P Appleton 10-1-1-29

M De Zoysa 9-2-2-42

J Pegg c L Hodgins b DJ Thomson 38

S Ogilvie c L Hodgins b J Brown 1

J White b J Brown 0

M De Zoysa c J Eyers b H Ganley 32

S Tung b O Hayes 50

J Lewis b O Hayes 0

D White c O Hayes b J Brown 6

A Warrick not out 10

D McDonald lbw b J Brown 0

T McKenzie lbw b J Brown 0

P Appleton not out 0

Extras (nb 0, w 10, b 5, lb 2) 17

Total 9-154 (overs 48.1)

FOW: 9 (S Ogilvie) 9 (J White) 65 (M De Zoysa) 96 (J Pegg) 112 (J Lewis) 134 (D White) 146 (S Tung) 151 (D McDonald) 151 (T McKenzie)

EAST BALLARAT BOWLING

O Hayes 10-4-2-24

J Brown 9.1-0-5-41

DJ Thomson 10-4-1-26

T Dixon 10-3-0-29

H Ganley 9-2-1-27

A Taylor b G Trevenen 8

DP Hyatt c JM Smith b G Trevenen 18

B Barnes c & b JP Butler 0

H Wickramasinghe c JM Smith b G Trevenen 2

Dr Locke c J Jeffrey b JP Burns 3

MJ Ward c M Goonan b DN Fletcher 13

RN Khwaja not out 71

M Ekanayaka c S Nicholson b DN Fletcher 4

B Longhurst st JM Smith b AJ George 15

D Hoey run out (JP Butler) 1

Da Locke not out 0

Extras (nb 0, w 2, b 0, lb 2) 4

Total 9-139 (cc)

FOW: 10 (A Taylor) 11 (B Barnes) 24 (H Wickramasinghe) 33 (Dr Locke) 33 (DP Hyatt) 65 (MJ Ward) 71 (M Ekanayaka) 115 (B Longhurst) 133 (D Hoey)

JP Butler 10-1-1-52

G Trevenen 9-4-3-20

JP Burns 8-5-1-8

S Nicholson 10-2-0-18

DN Fletcher 7-2-2-17

A George 6-0-1-22

M Goonan c M Ekanayaka b B Longhurst 31

S Nicholson c D Hoey b B Longhurst 0

JP Butler c Dr Locke b B Longhurst 5

MG Ward lbw b B Longhurst 6

JP Burns c M Ekanayaka b RN Khwaj 15

JM Smith c B Longhurst b DP Hyatt 6

DN Fletcher c A Taylor b RN Khwaja 3

J Jeffrey c D Hoey b DP Hyatt 8

G Trevenen c D Hoey b M Ekanayaka 4

AJ George lbw b M Ekanayaka 7

L Payne not out 2

Extras (nb 0, w 10, b 0, lb 6) 16

Total 103 (40.2 overs)

FOW: 6 (S Nicholson) 21 (JP Butler) 33 (MG Ward) 62 (JP Burns) 64 (M Goonan) 75 (DN Fletcher) 87 (JM Smith) 87 (J Jeffrey) 99 (AJ George) 103 (G Trevenen)

M Ekanayaka 9.2-2-2-18

B Longhurst 10-2-4-31

MJ Ward 2-0-0-12

Da Locke 1-0-0-4

RN Khwaja 9-0-2-21

H Wickramasinghe 6-3-0-6

DP Hyatt 3-2-2-5