Darley’s finals hopes are officially over in the Ballarat Cricket Association.
The Lions had a small glimmer of hope heading into the second last round but that was extinguished with a loss to Napoleons Sebastopol.
Napoleons Sebastopol had made 186 on day one of the match, giving the Lions a solid run chase.
The Lions started well and were 1-66 before they lost three quick wickets including that of star batter Dilan Chandima to slip to 3-78.
A small partnership put the Lions back on top before two wickets without scoring had the Lions in trouble at 6-112.
The Lions’ tail fought hard and got to within 15 runs with two wickets in hand. The Lions’ push ended up falling short, with the side bowled out for 181.
Chandima top scored with 43 before being run out.
The loss had the Lions sitting in sixth spot, 20 points outside the top four heading into the final round.
While it was heartbreak for the Lions, Bacchus Marsh added another win to its total, easily accounting for Buninyong.
Having made 8-244 on day one, the Bulls were able to recover after a slow start to bowl the Buniinyong out for 134 in the 69th over.
The Bulls took the final 6-22 to wrap up the tail.
Daniel Lalor took 4-49 off his 20 overs, while Armi Wakefield took two wickets.
The Bulls sit in seventh spot heading into the final round, three points behind their cross town rivals.
Darley is at home to Golden Point in the final round, while Bacchus Marsh will travel to Wendouree.
Meanwhile, the BCA Melbourne Country Week side finished in third place in the division 2 competition. Bacchus Marsh’s Nick Strangio was part of the team.
