LAVINGTON snapped North Albury’s four-match winning streak with a thrilling two-wicket win in their Cricket Albury-Wodonga provincial clash at Bunton Park yesterday.
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Set 9-204 for victory, the Panthers chased down the target with 14 balls to spare with youngsters Andrew Mackinlay and Ryan Brown at the crease in a tense finish.
It was North Albury’s first loss of the season and adds to the congestion of teams fighting for finals positions with only East Albury out of contention.
Lavington co-coach Robbie Mackinlay said it was a solid all-round performance after a roller-coaster start to the season.
“We were happy to be chasing 205 because it was probably a 230 or 240 wicket and our batsmen did just enough to get us over the line,” Mackinlay said last night.
“I thought we had a good spread of contributors with the bat with a lot making starts.
“It was tight and we really needed to win this one to give us a bit of a kick along.
“Hopefully we can gain some momentum from this.”
North Albury captain Greg Daniel continued his stellar run with the bat by making 73, while Lavington relied on a more even approach with Sam O’Connor (54), Liam Scammell (30), James Tonkin (27), Aaron West (26), Andrew Taylor (24) and Andrew Mackinlay (12 not out) making starts,
Belvoir gave its season a timely boost with a 116-run victory against Tallangatta at Kelly Park.
With in-form batsman Nat Sariman leading the way with 78, the Eagles put themselves in a winning position by posting 8-256 and all-rounder Peter Cook and Brad Freake did the rest with the ball.
Earlier, Cook hammered 34 not out to give the home team the edge.
Vice-captain Mick Russell said Belvoir was desperate to put in a good showing.
“We trained really well during the week and the boys were keen for a big performance,” Russell said.
“We pride ourselves on playing well and I thought it came together well.
“It keeps us around the mark.
“Peter Cook was playing in only his second match of the season and did a great job for us.”
Wodonga brought down East Albury at Les Cheesley Oval.
The Crows started promisingly and put a competitive 163 on the board but Bulldog captain Robbie Jackson returned to form with 64 not out to prove the difference between the teams.
Crows skipper Andrew Wilkes said his team played well in patches.
“We probably played 85 per cent of the game well,” Wilkes said.