Brilliant bowling delivered Darley its first win of the Ballarat Cricket Association first-grade season on Saturday.
The Lions batted first against East Ballarat, making 163 before being dismissed in the 49th over.
The small total didn’t leave Darley much margin for error with the ball and, at 1-40, East Ballarat looked to be on its way to reeling in the target.
But the Lions’ bowlers stepped up, at one stage taking 4-17 to have East Ballarat struggling at 5-57.
The pressure continued from there, with Brian Wheelahan combining with Ryan Ali to rip through the tail and end the innings at 104 after 38 overs.
Lions coach Matthew Cape was impressed with how his bowlers combined. “It was a good, solid performance,” he said. “We finally clicked into gear … got enough runs on the board and then the boys bowled well.
“We’ve got three class spinners in the team now with the arrival of Sajith Rupasingha, who is a player we brought in during the week. He has played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka.
“The bowlers put them under a lot of pressure.”
Despite the weekend’s win being just its first of the season, Darley is just one game from the top of the BCA first-grade table.
All top eight sides have lost at least one game, while only Coronet City and North Ballarat remain winless.
Cape said his side had been “really good” for big parts of its matches, but poor periods had cost it dearly.
“The two games we have lost have been to teams that are on top of the ladder and fourth,” he said. “It wasn’t doom and gloom, but we certainly want to string a couple together.”
The Lions will look to make it two wins in a row when they take on fifth-placed Ballarat/Redan on Saturday.
Ballarat/Redan comes into the game in winning form after beating Napoleons/Sebastopol last week.
“They’re a very strong batting team,” Cape said.
“They were down the bottom last year, but now they’ve won two of their three games. We need to make sure our batting clicks into gear.”
Darley’s lower-grade sides have been enjoying outstanding starts to their season.
The Lions’ second and third XIs are in second spot on their respective ladders.
