KIEWA is the hot favourite to take out the minor premiership, but an outright Eskdale win could see things get very tight at the top of the table.
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Both sides are locked in see-sawing battles with fellow finals contenders after dominating the home-and-away season.
The Rangers did well to prevent Kiewa from gaining any momentum with the bast last weekend, and need only 198 to claim first innings points against the ladder leaders.
Kiewa captain Shane Streeter said he was pleased with the total his team posted, backing his bowlers to get the job done.
“It’s definitely a good game going on at the moment, Baranduda have been playing pretty well lately,” Streeter said.
“They bowled tight all day, on a bit of a slow pitch, so we’re pretty happy to be where we are now.
“I think the pitch will really suit our bowling attack, I’m confident they can get the job done.”
Leg-spinner Jason Bartel will be one to watch, with Streeter predicting the pitch would do him plenty of favours.
“He’s had a hard time of it lately, I don’t think he’s had many pitches that really suit the way he wants to bowl,” he said.
“There hasn’t been as much spin as he probably would have like, but the pitch out at Baranduda looks pretty likely, so hopefully he can pick up one or two wickets for us.”
The opening duo of Ryan De Vries and and Ben Curphy will look to claim early wickets.
The last time Baranduda took to the crease they scored 240 against Bethanga, and it will be the experienced trio of Paul Munro, Mitchell Ryan and Vince Moran who will look to get the job done with the bat.
Eskdale captain Jamie Baude said his side would be aggressive in the field against Mt Beauty in their effort to snatch the minor premiership from Kiewa.
“We need a few things to go our way for it to happen, but it would be great if we came out on top,” Baude said.
“We put together a good score, so if we can put some early pressure on and grab some early wickets then we’re giving ourselves every chance.”