Melton has recorded its first outright victory in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association since the 2009-10 season.
Having already secured first innings points on day one of the east-west match against Endeavour Hills, the Lions were keen to get the maximum 10 points on Saturday.
Lions captain David Kirk said his side, resuming at 3-94, was always going to take an aggressive approach to day two.
“We wanted to bat for 10 to 15 overs and hopefully get a lead of about 80 to 90,” he said.
“We wanted to get them back in batting while there was still a little in the pitch.”
The Lions declared at 4-180 with a lead of 86 on the first innings. Kirk led the way with an unbeaten 69.
The task for the Lions was never going to be an easy one, as they were missing two of their key bowlers – playing coach Nathan Geisler and Brad Jones, who took 8-29 on day one but unavailable for day two.
It didn’t seem to matter, with the other Lions bowlers stepping up to bowl Endeavour Hills out for 113. Endeavour Hills were in trouble at 3-10 and never recovered.
Ashley Sweet was the standout for the Lions, taking 7-36.
“Sweety stepped up and bowled 18 overs straight,” Kirk said. “He was a class above everyone else on Saturday. We struggled to take wickets early in the season, but have taken 30 wickets in the last two matches. All the bowlers have stepped up.”
The Lions were left a target of 27 runs in their second innings to seal an outright win.
With the win all but certain, the Lions changed the batting order around.
“We decided to let a couple of boys who hadn’t had a bat open up the innings,” Kirk said. “Ben Luca, who made 14 not out, batted well and got us over the line.”
The win moves the Lions to fourth on the ladder with two games left before Christmas. The Lions’ three wins are more than they had for all of last season.
With the Lions having dominated with the ball in recent weeks, Kirk said they were looking forward to opportunities to spend plenty of time in the middle with the bat.
“The next two games before Christmas are really important. Getting back to the 80-over matches gives you a good chance to get a bat,” he said.
