Darley didn’t get anywhere near Wendouree’s run total on Saturday, but Lions’ coach Heath Pritchard was still able to take some positives out of the loss.
The Lions were on the back foot of the Ballarat Cricket Association clash from the start, after a poor fielding display the previous week.
Wendouree had put on a massive 4-307 on day one, and the Lions needed everything to go their way on Saturday.
It didn’t … with the Lions reaching 8-223.
They started well and were 1-76, but this quickly became 5-97.
The ninth wicket partnership of 64 between Hayden Jamieson and David Hoey pushed the Lions’ score past 200.
Jamieson, in his first hit in the top side for the season, top-scored with 50 not out. And eight Lions batsmen scored between 12 and 50.
Lions’ skipper Heath Pritchard said it had been a frustrating day with the bat, compounding the first day’s effort.
“The damage was done on the first day of the match,” he said. “We didn’t hold our catches and the ground fielding wasn’t good.
“We actually batted okay (on Saturday). We got a lot of starts, but no-one could go on with it. We needed someone to get a big score, but it didn’t happen.
“The pleasing thing is I don’t think we batted anywhere near as well as we can and still made 223,” Pritchard said. “We know if we bat well, we can match it with the best teams.”
The loss means the Lions slip from top spot to third on the ladder, with Mt Clear going to the top on the back of its outright win.
Only three points now separates the top four, with fifth-placed Golden Point a further six points behind.
The fight for finals resembles last season, when an outright win and a Lions’ loss put the Lions out of the contest in the final round. This is not a scenario Pritchard wants repeated.
“We’ve got North Ballarat, then the bye and finish with East Ballarat. We get six points for the bye and a few of the sides around us play each other that week,” Pritchard said. “Our destiny is in our own hands.
“We play two sides who are outside the top four, and we should beat them. If we can’t we shouldn’t be playing finals.”
In other results, Napoleons-Sebastopol recorded a reverse outright win against Brown Hill. After being bowled out for 54 chasing Brown Hill’s 75, Napoleons-Sebastopol turned it around in the second innings.
Needing 164 for victory, Napoleons-Sebastopol made 5-169.
Mt Clear recorded an outright win against East Ballarat, while North Ballarat had a good win against Golden Point.
