MILDURA West have kept their slim finals chances alive with a 17-run victory over the team they hope to displace to sneak into the top four with two rounds of the regular season remaining.
West are now just half a game outside the top four with matches against top team Workers Gol Gol and sixth-placed Nichols Point remaining.
Fourth-placed Coomealla Wentworth meet the winless Merbein South in the last round of the season, but their clash this weekend against third-placed Mildura Settlers could make or break their hopes of a finals campaign.
Setts were unable to get the job done against second-placed Irymple who can now press for a top-of-the-table finish with remaining games against the competition’s two bottom-placed teams to see out the home and away season.
Setts couldn’t break the shackles against the inform Irymple who appear to be gaining in confidence with every game.
Some tight bowling by Chase Stone (1-18 off six), Mark Thomson (0-12 off eight) and Dan Coghlan (2-8 off five) helped to keep Setts on a leash and it was only while Luke Stanbrook was at the crease did the home team look like getting anywhere near a defendable tally.
His 34 from 30 balls included three sixes, but his run out triggered a collapse which saw Setts lose 6-27 and end with a final tally of 122 after their allotted overs.
Irymple, however, also found themselves in a spot of bother early and at one stage were 5-29 before some rearguard action by Mitchell Roads with his highest score of the season (48) got his side over the line with five overs and three wickets to spare.
Mildura West set up a defendable 8-176 from their overs, thanks largely to a 68-run fourth wicket stand from Joseph Pall (47) and Jayden Zanoni (30).
Coomealla Wentworth started well and at 0-88 were in the box seat to get the points, but their next nine wickets fell for 71 runs and with a batsman short, finished at 9-159 with five balls to spare.
Veteran Sunraysia cricketer Tom Vadlja turned back the clock with a masterclass century against the winless Merbein South on Saturday.
Vadlja carried his bat with an unbeaten 123 from 136 balls to register his first century since the 2014-15 season.
His efforts at the weekend helped to steer East to 1-220, while a quickfire 40 not out from Josh Berry boosted the tally late in the innings.
Merbein South made a reasonable fist of the run chase with Hamim Miah (54), Aaron Walder (28) and Tony Trinick (24), aided by 23 wides, reaching 205 before their final wicket fell.
In the other match of the round, Workers Gol Gol showed why they are the standout team of the competition with a comfortable six-wicket win against Nichols Point.
Set 171 for victory, a 79-run stand from Adam Thomson (83 not out) and Jesse McGinty (43) helped to seal the fate of Nichols Point who sit well off the pace in a season they would prefer to forget.
