Darley’s finals hopes are all but gone in the Ballarat Cricket Association after its batsmen again failed to bat out their overs, this time against East Ballarat.
Looking to turn around a two-match losing streak, Darley found itself with a fight on its hands after making 201.
Ryan Ali top-scored with 80 but had little support, with only captain Matthew Cape passing 15.
Cape, who made 56, said the total was 20-30 runs short of what was needed to be competitive.
“It was very disappointing,” the captain said.
“We started poorly but then had a good revival in the middle overs before losing five wickets for 20 runs at the end.
“We needed more from both the top and bottom of the order.”
East Ballarat got the runs in the day’s final over, reaching 4-207 with most of its batsmen getting starts.
“We had a couple of half chances which we didn’t take,” Cape said.
“We bowled really well, but they had wickets in hand and made the runs easily in the end.
“Our tally was never going to be enough.”
Ali took two wickets, with Cape and Hayden Jamieson grabbing one each.
The loss continued a poor run with the bat for Darley.
“We had three wins in a row earlier in the season and now we’ve had three consecutive losses,” Cape lamented.
“The game before Christmas and the two games afterwards we’ve had a drop in form and haven’t been able to bat out the overs.
“Our seconds and thirds are set to play finals, so whether we give them a go or drop a couple of players down is something we have to discuss.
“Hopefully, if we keep plugging away our form will turn around.”
The loss dropped Darley to seventh on the ladder, 11 points behind fourth-placed Napoleons Sebastopol.
“We’re now two games outside the top four with three games to go,” Cape said.
“We need a minor miracle now if we’re to make finals.
“It’s very disappointing.”
