KINGOWER has kept up the pressure on ladder-leading Wedderburn in the Upper Loddon Cricket Association seniors, easing to a four-wicket victory over Bridgewater Bulls on Saturday.
The Bulls struggled to get hold of the Kingower attack, with only four players making double figures, including opener Tom McKinley, who top scored with 23.
Lachlan Dejong was the best of the bowlers, with 3-10 from his seven overs.
Kingower passed the Bulls’ total in 30 overs, with opener Matt Rowe’s composed 56 critical in the win.
Only David Rose, who finished not out on 22, managed double figures apart from Rowe.
Skipper Jayden Leach, who was not expected to play due to work commitments, did hit the field but made only seven, reducing his season’s average from more than 100 to 67.2.
Both Lewis Lonsdale and Toby Naughton took three wickets.
Arnold Redbacks had a big win over Boort Yando, who won the toss and decided to bowl. Ryan Metelmann made 32 runs off 32 balls opening the batting, remarkably scoring all of the first-wicket stand.
Campbell Hancock batted well for 37 off 46 balls, with five fours and six, while captain Henry McCullough clubbed 27 off just 21 balls to help the Redbacks to 4-157 off their 35 overs.
In response, Boort never looked like matching the run rate and wickets fell steadily as the Magpies could only manage 9-110.
Veteran Brian Minogue impressed with 33 from 42 balls and Gary Zanker hit 22 off 25 balls before being bowled by Georgia Hancock.
Flynn Lock took 3-6 off four overs for the Redbacks, including the wicket of Minogue.
Senior cricket will resume after the Christmas-New Year break on January 11 with one-day clashes .
Arnold will be up against against Kingower and Bridgewater against Wedderburn. Boort has the bye.
- GARY WALSH