JUST nine runs separated Mildura East and Irymple after a tight SCA First Division struggle on Saturday.
Chasing 196, Irymple made steady progress throughout the day but found themselves on shaky ground when East co-captain Andrew Ross claimed the wickets of Jarrad Armsden (11) and Tyler McGregor (2) in the same over.
At 8/155, the odds were stacked against them and a brave innings from Bailey Anderson (23 not out) wasn’t enough to get them home. Irymple were bowled out for 187.
Ryan Muir took the final wicket of Joel Minter and ended the day with impressive figures of 4/30.
At Old Aerodrome Ovals, Mildura West were unable to chase down Gol Gol’s first innings of 289.
Captain Greg Lewis top-scored with 35 but the West batters were unable to compile big scores.
Five players took wickets for Gol Gol, led by Kain Berryman, who made the most of his spell and finished with 3/18.
Nichols Point continued their dominant start to the season.
After chasing down Mildura Settlers’ score of 192, they went on to post a monster total of 351.
Surprisingly, no player reached a century but captain Shaun Matthews (70), Dean Fulco (76), Shannon Bowen (77) and Dale Chappell (80) all performed well.
The four batters combined to hit 47 boundaries in the win.
Nichols Point remains the only team undefeated this season.
In the other match of the round between Merbein and Coomealla Wentworth, play was abandoned due to water on the field at Chaffey Park.
Coomealla Wentworth were awarded points after scoring seven more first-innings runs than Merbein.
Merbein’s second innings closed at 2/29.
