A STIRRING spell from Josh Bartel has kept Kiewa’s top-three aspirations on track against Yackandandah.
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The Canadian-bound all-rounder took 6-29 off 14.3 overs, including the key wickets of Roos batsmen Logan Hayward (27) and Mick Walker (33) as Yackandandah was dismissed for 115.
The Hawks are 3-85 in reply as they look to keep the heat on Dederang and Baranduda at the top of the table.
Bartel’s six-wicket haul came after he claimed three scalps and made a half-century against Eskdale last round.
“He’s very handy to have back,” Kiewa skipper Shane Streeter said of Bartel.
“It’s just his second game back but he’s a bloke you can rely on to put the ball in the right spot every single ball.
“He’s always asking questions of the batsman and 90 per cent of the time the ball is in the right area.
“Because he’s got that ability, he can vary his pace quite a lot and is a really intelligent bowler.”
Streeter said the Hawks were keen to secure victory as early as possible next week but weren’t focused on outright points.
He said their main priority was to stay ahead of fourth-placed Eskdale to secure a home final.
“We are reasonably happy with where we’re sitting,” he said.
“We obviously want to finish as high as we can.
“We know we need to get two wins because it’s really tight at the top of the ladder.
“Finishing on top would be nice but we finished on top last year and it didn’t do us any favours.
“If we finish in the top three, we are happy with that.”
Baranduda holds the upper hand against Mt Beauty after dismissing the Power for 135.
Frank Iaria was the standout for Mt Beauty with 66 at the top of the order against some tight bowling from the Rangers’ Mitch Ryan (3-19 off 11 overs).
Baranduda will resume at 1-16 next week.
Barnawartha-Chiltern will be confident of defending 210 against Bethanga, which finished the day at 1-39 in reply.
Murray Price continued his strong season for the Miners with 69.
Wodonga was bundled out for 114 against Dederang but stuck back late in the day to have the Demons 1-7.
Jamie Baude blasted 77 in Eskdale’s 170 against Howlong.
The Spiders fell to 3-23 off 12 overs in reply.