As the storm clouds rolled in on Wednesday afternoon, the eager fourth graders took to the field at Griffith Showgrounds.
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In the battle for top spot Exies took on Hanwood, and it was Hanwood who made a quick start.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Oliver Bartter and Luke Cannon look to make an early impact on the scoreboard.
Quick scoring saw them reach 20 in four overs before Cannon (4) was dismissed by Amandeep Singh (1/19).
Harry Rowston and Bartter kept the forward momentum going with a quick 40-run partnership.
After reaching 61, it was a miscommunication between the pair which resulted in Rowston (17) being run out by Billy Evans.
The scoring slowed slightly as Rahul Guraan (1), Henry Lacey (8), Daniel Whitworth (1), Bailey Cullan (5) and Luke Demamiel (0) fell to see the score become 7/99.
A 50-run partnership between Tom Bartter (29*) and Aiden Serafin (23*) helped lift the side to a final total of 7/149 off their 25 overs.
Exies suffered an early loss with Singh (0) being run out by Oliver Bartter with the score on two before Mason Ashcroft (4) and Sam Irvin (19) restore the balance with a 20-run partnership.
When Ashcroft was dismissed by Whitworth (1/18), it spelt a mini-collapse as Jayden Quinn (2), and Sean Culgan (2) were both run out while Mason Rosengreen (1) was caught off the bowling of Serafin (1/4).
After a 12-run partnership between Irvin and Hayden Forner (9) was ended by Rowston, he ripped through the rest of the Exies batting line up.
The young medium pacer picked up Jacob Testoni (0) and Evans (1) while Demamiel picked up the wicket of Forner to have Exies on 9/45.
James Roche (35*) and Jack Mingay (18) lead a late innings fightback before Rowston (4/10) picked up his fourth wicket of the game to give Hanwood a 43-run win.
In the second game between Leagues and Coro, the Cougars made a good start with Jack Rand (20) and Mark Bennett (8).
After a 39-run partnership, the pair were dismissed in quick succession with Nobeljit Kalsi (1/21) and Kyle Jamison (1/18) taking the wickets.
Ben Signor (40 ret) led the way for Coro and ensured the wickets wouldn’t derail their innings with Joseph Bellicanta (8) playing the supporting role in a 58-run partnership with Coro eventually reaching a finishing total of 4/128 off their 25 overs.
After a 14-run partnership between Enzo Nolan (3) and Chaise Sergi (12) saw Leagues make a start before the loss of four quick wickets.
Jacob Witherspoon (1/9), Ben Wood (2/8), Ben Signor (1/13) and Cooper Rand (2/13) picked up a wicket apiece as League fell to 4/20.
Leo Forner (10) and Patrick Payne (10) put on 25 runs before Forner fell to Rand.
Payne and Patrick Gunn (11) kept the score ticking over before the pair were dismissed in quick succession.
Fergus Shelton (23) tried to keep his side in the game with a 20-run partnership with Alex Minato, but when Shelton was runout, it closed Leagues innings to give the Cougars a 21-run win.
Exies will take on Diggers next week while Coro will look close on the top two when they take on Hanwood.