Melton enters the Christmas break as one of the form teams of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association’s east-west division.
The Lions have shown in recent weeks they will be one of the teams in the mix come finals time and on Saturday they faced Werribee, another team looking for a finals spot.
Electing to bat on their home turf, the Lions produced their best innings of the season so far.
Seven batsmen each passed double figures on the way to 5-221 from 45 overs – nearly five runs an over.
Returning to the side Ben MacRae produced his third 50 of the season, making 52. Skipper David Kirk finished 37 not out, and Jake Thornton-Gielen was 36 not out.
The Tigers started well, with their batsmen able to handle the Lions’ pace attack.
Enter spinner Dylan Clarke.
Clarke has not had much opportunity early in the season with the fast bowlers doing all the damage, but has thrived in the past two weeks.
Clarke took four wickets last week and followed up at the weekend with 7-49 to help bowl the Tigers out for 198 with one over remaining.
Brad Jones and Jake Charge took a wicket each.
Clarke is the third Lions bowler to take seven wickets in an innings this season. His figures are the fifth best of the season so far. Teammate Brad Jones is the best with figures of 8-29 in round five. Ashley Sweet’s 7-36 in round five is the fourth best.
The win is the Lions fourth in a row, which includes an outright victory.
They have picked up the most points in the past four rounds and sit third on the ladder after seven rounds, four points behind Williamstown and two points behind Balwyn.
In the Gisborne and District Cricket Association’s McIntyre Cup, Bacchus Marsh enters the Christmas break on the back of a win against ladder leaders Bacchus Marsh.
On a day when other sides in the competition struggled with the bat, the Bulls made the most of their time at the crease.
The Bulls managed 8-191 from their 40 overs, with openers Mili Sepala (40 runs) and Ian Spiteri (44 runs) the best of the batsmen.
Sunbury gave the target a push and was ahead of the necessary run rate, but the loss of wickets proved costly.
Sunbury was bowled out for 173. A career high of 73 not out from Steven Jenkin and 49 from Kel McInnes weren’t enough, with little support from anyone else.
The Bulls B-grade side also got the win, defeating St Anthonys. The Bulls made 8-208, with St Anthonys bowled out for 139 in reply. Brett McGrath took 5-28.
Both competitions resume on January 7.
