Exies were in form early, as after winning the toss Travers Pickmere and captain Phil Burge built a foundation for their side to compile a competitive score.

Exies made it to the 22nd over before Pickmere (25) was bowled by Dean Bennett (1/38) before another two quick wickets fell as Shane Hutchinson (3/28) picked up Joel Mulder (2) and Burge (27) to reduce Exies to 3/74.

The middle order from Exies ensured the bump in the road wouldn’t become more substantial as Alistair and Craig Burge put on 21 runs before Alistair became Hutchinson’s third wicket.

Ashcroft combined with Craig Burge to get Exies into a comfortable position with a 42-run stand before Alex Flood returned to the bowling attack and picked up three quick wickets in Ashcroft (25), Tucker (0) and Brett Findlay while Lucas Conlan (1/15) dismissed Burge (15).

Exies finished their 40 overs on 8/148 and would have been looking to take early wickets but they would not have envisioned their start.

Tucker took the new ball and made an instant impact dismissing Tim Rand (0) in the first over before returning in his second over to take the wickets of Rob Rand (1) and Cougars captain Haydn Pascoe (0) both caught by Ashcroft to have Coro struggling on 3/5 after 2.2 overs.

It was a position the Cougars were never able to recover from despite the best efforts of Bennett (7) and William Kennedy (4) who put on 12 runs for the fourth wicket before Bennett, Kennedy and Lucas Conlan (0) all fell with the score on 17.

Andrew Potter (9) was the next to try and offer resistance however it was too late as after he fell to the bowling of Ashcroft it spelt the end for the Cougars as they were bowled out for 33.

It is the second week in a row where Exies have restricted their opposition to under 50 after they bowled Diggers out for 27 last weekend.