Merbein and Coomealla Wentworth find themselves in a low-scoring arm wrestle after both were bowled out for less than 70 runs in their first innings in Round 5 of the Sunraysia Cricket Association.
Both teams are chasing just their second win of the season but so far runs have been hard to come by, Merbein’s Mark East the top-scoring batter with 24.
Tauseef Kataria (Coomealla Wentworth) and Ben Green (Merbein) both tore through their opposition and claimed four wickets.
Two wickets down in their second innings, Merbein hold a slim 11-run lead going into next week.
Meanwhile, the competition’s leading run scorers Gol Gol yet again put on a masterclass with the bat, finishing all out for 289 against Mildura West.
Shacaya Thomas, who top scored on 102 (105 balls) made life difficult for the West bowlers.
At Henshilwood Oval, Mildura East posted a score of 196, led by import Josh Andrews who made it to 54 before he was hit on the pads by Mark Thomson and given out LBW.
Thomson and Chase Stone both had figures of 3/34 for Irymple.
They were sent in at the end of the day to bat for two overs and survived despite putting no runs on the board.
In the final game of the round, ladder leaders Nichols Point are on track to chase down the target set by Settlers which is 192.
Opening batter Jason Morrison (87) helped Settlers to set a solid target, but will need to get early wickets next weekend if they are to claim their first win of the season.
After 19 overs, Nichols Point find themselves in a comfortable position at 1/61.
