Coro tailender John Witherspoon sends this one away on day two of the Cougars' clash with Yenda.
YENDA'S faint finals hopes are still alive after wrapping up a 32-run victory over the Coro Cougars on Saturday at Wade Park.
The Jets needed a win to remain a mathematical chance of making the top four, and after the stage was set with a stunning performance on day one, they did what they had to do.
It was perhaps a little too close for comfort for Yenda captain Matt Bruce after Coro resumed on 4-12 chasing 159, but it was the result that mattered not the margin.
The key men were opening bowlers Dean Cunial and Jessie Ryan, who bagged four wickets apiece as the Cougars were knocked over for 127.
At one stage Coro was 8-66, but a late show from freewheeling all-rounder Paul Plummer (45) added an air of respectability to the scorecard and gave Bruce a few nervy moments as the Cougars slowly approached the target.
"Paul had a real go towards the end. I tried not to sweat it," he said.
"In the end it was a bit closer than what we would have liked but they were always going to throw the bat around.
"We bowled well, even though it's a bit hard when you've got someone trying to hit you out of the park."
Coro captain Haydn Pascoe said his side's first six batsmen who were removed for a combined total of just 42 runs effectively got themselves out.
"We just played stupid shots, really," he said.
"Full credit to Yenda but we never really got going. It was more or less our own fault and there were some umpiring decisions that could have gone either way, that didn't go our way."
Yenda now needs to beat Exies in the final round of two-day matches and hope that Hanwood falls to winless Leagues Club Panthers to make the finals.
"We've just got to worry about winning ourselves and playing like we have in the last couple of weeks," Bruce said.
"Beating Coro is by far our biggest achievement of the season, so we know we can mix it with the big teams. Anything can happen in cricket."
Late in the day, Yenda were forced in for a second innings as the Cougars tried for an unlikely outright win.
While the Jets were bowled out again, time was Coro's enemy - although it did give young gun Alex Flood another opportunity to show what he could do, with the 16-year-old finishing with nine wickets for the match.
"He just bowled phenomenally. He's going to be a big part of our future," Pascoe said.
"Every time I threw him the ball I had 100 per cent confidence that he would take wickets.
"He's very hard to score runs off, and that frustration can create a loose shot from the batter, which he capitalises on to take wickets.
"He'll be very handy in the finals."