The race for the top two places, and a guaranteed place in the grand final, is heating up in West Wimmera Cricket after Jeparit inflicted the Nhill Tigers' first loss for the season and Kiata recorded a comfortable nine wicket victory over Winiam this weekend.

Jeparit 6 for 142 defeated Nhill Tigers 9 for 137

At Sir Robert Menzies Park in Jeparit the home team won the toss and elected to bat, but started slowly with both openers dismissed before the team made it into double figures.

Number three batsman Jeremy Preston then formed the backbone of a number of significant partnerships, including one of 74 runs with Tim Inkster who contributed 36.

At the end of their 40 overs Preston remained unbeaten on 76 and he had taken the Redbacks to 6 for 142, setting the Tigers a challenging victory target.

The leading bowler in the innings was Luke Smith, fresh from a hat trick last week, with 2 wickets, and Ben Pollock, Ash Dickinson, Mitch Dahlenburg and Dave Harris all took one each.

In reply Nhill also lost their two openers cheaply, and whilst there were a couple of meaningful partnerships in the middle of the innings, they lost wickets regularly.

Although five batsmen made it into double figures, it was only Shaun Smith who made 40 in the middle order and Luke Smith who scored a quick 23 towards the end of the innings who progressed past 20.

Some tight bowling and fielding by the Jeparit players kept the pressure on throughout the Tigers' innings which led to some risky batting towards the end which contributed to two run outs in the pursuit of quick runs in a unsuccessful attempt to reach the target.

Brad Keller celebrated his first game for the season with three wickets, and Jack Crowhurst contributed two wickets along with two memorable catches in the field. Adrian King and Liam Preston took the other two wickets to fall to bowlers.

Jason Huston also took two sharp reflex catches to maintain the pressure on the batting side.

After a flurry of runs and wickets in the closing overs, the end result was a close five run win the Jeparit, which keeps them in second place on the ladder and only one win behind the Tigers.

Winiam 7 for 135 lost to Kiata 5 for 186

The second game was played at Davis Park in Nhill where Winiam, who had not played for two weeks due to a forfeit, hosted Kiata who last week fell agonisingly short of an outright victory over the Nhill Tigers.

Winiam batted first and posted the respectable one day game total of 135 for the loss of only 7 wickets. The reliable Brad Clark made the top score of 33, and Brodie Cramer contributed 19 and Grant Eastwell 18 to the total.

The pick of the bowlers were Lee Marra with three wickets and Liam Albrecht with two.

The run chase started slowly with the first wicket falling with the team total on 12, but a second wicket partnership of 146 between Josh Lees (51 retired) and Liam Albrecht (75 retired) saw them pass the victory total without the loss of another wicket. Josiah Mock contributed 20 runs late in the innings before also retiring.

Brad Clark and Drew Schneider took one wicket each.

This result leaves Winiam on the bottom of the ladder and desperately in need a win before the Christmas break to remain in the hunt for the final, whilst Kiata remain only win behind the second placed Jeparit and are well placed to rise further up the ladder when they meet that opponent next week.

Round Six Preview

Next week Winiam will host the Nhill Tigers and recent form suggest that they will struggle, as although the Tigers suffered their first loss last week it was only by five runs so they would not be too worried about a loss of form. A loss for the home team will make it very difficult for them to make up the ground to challenge for a top two place by the end of the season.

The result of the other game that will be played at Jeparit will have a significant influence on the remainder of the season.

A win to Jeparit would see them move two games clear in second place, but if Kiata take the points they will draw level with Jeparit which will maintain interest in all of the remaining three rounds.

Round Five

Jeparit v. Nhill Tigers at Sir Robert Menzies Park, Jeparit
Winiam v. Kiata at Winiam

Round Four Results

Jeparit v. Nhill Tigers at Sir Robert Menzies Park, Jeparit

Jeparit First Innings

J Crowhurst      ct T Polkinghorne      b. B Pollock 0
B Keller ct D Harris b. L Smith 0
J Preston not out    76
L Preston ct A Cramer b. L Smith 2
T James ct S Graham b. D Harris 5
T Inkster ct A Cramer b. A Dickinson 36
A King ct L Smith b. M Dahlenburg      5
J Hutson not out    0
Sundries       19
TOTAL    6 for 142

Nhill Tigers Bowling

        O      M      R      W
B Pollock 8 2 46 1
L Smith 8 3 24 2
A Dickinson 7 2 10 1
M Dahlenburg      8 2 28 1
D Harris 6 2 12 1
A Cramer 3 0 18 0

Nhill Tigers First Innings

R Dodds ct J Crowhurst      b. B Keller 9
T Polkinghorne         b. B Keller 1
A Cramer ct J Hutson b. J Crowhurst      15
M Dahlenburg ct J Hutson b. J Crowhurst 3
S Smith ct J Crowhurst b. A King 40
B Pollock ct M Preston b. L Preston 12
S Gusman    b. B Keller 16
L Smith Run Out    23
A Dickinson Run Out    9
D Harris not out    1
S Graham not out    0
Sundries       5
TOTAL    9 for 137

Jeparit Bowling

        O      M      R      W
G Grinter 5 0 20 0
B Keller 7 2 17 3
J Preston 7 0 29 0
J Crowhurst      8 1 35 2
A King 8 1 22 1
L Preston 5 0 14 1

Winiam v. Kiata at Davis Park, Nhill

Winiam First Innings

B Cramer ct & b. L Marra 19
S Launer ct J Mock b. L Albrecht      6
B Clark ct J Mock b. L Marra 33
K Ross ct T Alexander b. L Marra 9
C Vaughan ct J Mock b. L Albrecht 7
D Stott ct D Colombera      b. J Cramer 0
G Eastwell    b. J Lees 18
D Schneider      not out    10
J Muller not out    5
Sundries       27
TOTAL    7 for 135

Kiata Bowling

        O      M      R      W
J Lees 6 1 11 1
L Albrecht 7 1 11 2
T Alexander 5 2 15 0
D Colombera 3 0 19 0
J Cramer 6 0 17 1
L Marra 6 0 34 3
J Brown 2 0 11 0
X Bone 3 0 9 0
Shanaye Alexander      2 0 5 0

Kiata First Innings

J Cramer    b. B Clark 7
J Lees Retired    51
L Albrecht Retired    75
X Bone ct K Ross      b. D Schnieder      5
J Brown not out    2
J Mock Retired b. L Smith 20
Sundries       26
TOTAL    5 for 186

Winiam Bowling

        O      M      R      W
B Clark      8 2 18 1
B Cramer 7 2 22 0
G Eastwell 3 0 24 0
D Schneider 5 1 16 1
K Ross 2 0 12 0
B Purchase 8 0 44 0
C Vaughan 4 0 24 0
M Bone 3 0 17 0