Diggers Rest Bulla knows it holds its fate in its own hands in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association’s McIntyre Cup.
Sitting bottom with four rounds remaining, the Burras are just under seven points behind seventh-placed Rupertswood.
And the Burras’ draw in those last four rounds couldn’t get much better. They face eighth-placed Sunbury United twice, ninth-placed Lancefield and Rupertswood to end the season.
Burras coach Rasika Batepola said they were hoping to turn things around in the remaining rounds and cement their spot in the top division.
“We’ve got a few of the bottom sides the next few weeks,” he said.
“We had a good chat after the game about things.
“We’ve got good availability for the next few weeks, so hopefully we can put our best team on the park.”
On Saturday the Burras were left disappointed with yet another poor performance with the bat, this time against Gisborne.
It was always going to be a tough ask for the Burras, who were chasing the Dragons’ day one total of 9-331.
Batepola said they set the simple plan of being about 150 at tea with the loss of not many wickets.
They stuck to half the plan, but fell away for the second half.
“The plan was to have 120 to 150 runs on the board with the loss of three wickets max,” he said.
“We got the target of 150 on the board at tea, but we had lost eight wickets, which is never good chasing 330.”
The Burras were bundled out for 152, with Sumanjan Fernando top scoring with 37.
Sent back in the Burras decided attack was the best mode to go with a win out of the question.
Batepola said they wanted to make as many runs as possible to help the side earn bonus points, which could be important in the run home.
Just two batsmen reached double figures as they finished 8-94. With an outright loss on the cards, Batepola said they slowed things down so they didn’t concede the massive loss.
“They were the better side,” he said.
“An outright loss wouldn’t have done the confidence any good. We decided to defend the last couple of overs and not get the outright.”
Kane Shaw top scored with 55, while Blake Robinson scored 31.
In other results, Bacchus Marsh narrowly missed out on claiming an outright win against Woodend.
A Jason McGann double century sealed Sunbury’s win against Sunbury United. Rupertswood got its second win of the season against Lancefield, while Riddell defeated Romsey in the other game.
In B-grade, St Anthonys smashed Gisborne and Bacchus Marsh upset Eynesbury. The loss leaves Eynesbury outside the top four for the first time this season.
