Cats strike in nail-biter

Mooroopna was sent in to bat first at home and, while plenty of solid starts were made by the top order, the Lakers consistently found an answer to each confident stroke played by the Cats’ batters.

Three men in navy blue reached a score of 18 before finding a Laker in the outfield, with opener Joel May’s 25 the top score of the upper half of the order.

However, as Mooroopna found itself five down, Simon D’Elia and Jack Gaskill put together a steadying partnership to push a solid total for the home side.

D’Elia was patient, ticking over 35 runs off 49 deliveries, while Gaskill picked gaps or went airborne with his shots, scoring three boundaries, but two of which were sixes, as he tallied 45 runs off 36 balls.

The tail would fall abruptly once the middle order duo departed and, although the Cats were toppled for 191, there were just two balls left in the innings as the 10th wicket fell.

Although the Cats would’ve held confidence in their total, that quickly came crashing down after a dazzling quick-fire opening stand between Nagambie’s Tom Barnes and Jonathan Moore.

The Nagambie openers took no time in smacking the shine off the Kookaburra, producing runs at a clip of 11 per over across the first five.

However Barnes would go for six and out, with an attempt to go big on back-to-back balls spelling the end of an 18-ball innings that delivered 41 runs.

James Wilson’s stand failed to back up the Lakers’ opening pair’s strong start, dismissed for a three-ball duck after D’Elia trapped the first drop bat LBW, while Moore would fall an over-and-a-half later for 27 off 22.

Suddenly, 0-63 had turned to 3-72, and the Cats could smell a turn of the tide – albeit the Lakers had plenty of time to work with following their blistering start to the innings.

With each passing over the run rate continued to drop – following five the Lakers were on 55, but it would take another eight to score the next half-ton, and with four wickets falling in that time, Mooroopna’s chances at victory came back to life.

As overs progressed, the pendulum was tilting more and more towards the Cats.

Nagambie was still truly ahead with its required run rate, but with wickets falling, the Lakers required partnerships from the tail to get the job done.

Mark Nolan and Flynn Bush had decent stands in the middle order, Nolan a rapid 24, while Bush a more calculated, patient approach to 26.

When Bush departed, the Lakers had slumped to eight wickets down and still required 30 runs for victory.

The Cats were now in pole position for victory, but not until Matthew Martin had one final say in the matter.

Martin coolly kept the Lakers’ score ticking – there was no rush with 13 overs to spare - and remained not out until innings end.

However, as Nagambie inched towards its target of 192, Ryan Ezard was dismissed with the Lakers on 184, leaving eight runs to victory with one wicket remaining.

Will O’Brien ticked two doubles to take the score to 188, but the gap-finding Martin failed to push the rock out beyond the in-field, leaving the 11th man stranded to face Jack Gaskill in the 40th over.

Still four runs away from victory, O’Brien swung but his shot was caught, and the Cats had held firm by three runs in the tensest of victories.

The win elevates Mooroopna to sixth on the ladder and, with a clash against seventh-placed Tatura this week, it will be a match worth effectively double the premiership points, establishing a handy buffer for the winning side.

Meanwhile, Nagambie will be left to scratch its head about how its rapid start collapsed in dramatic fashion.

The loss places the Lakers fifth and a game behind the ladder leaders, with a clash against fourth-placed Numurkah set to also be a critical ladder-shaper heading into the two-day fixtures.