Hanwood won the toss and elected to bat but made a less than ideal start with Brendan Hicken (3) falling in the second over to the bowling of Ben Watts (1/18).

Brad Hornery and Dean Catanzariti looked to get their side back on track with a 27-run partnership before the introduction of Luke Peruzzi into the attack put the breaks on the Hanwood innings.

In the space of two overs, Peruzzi picked up the wickets of Catanzariti (18), Ben McInnes (5) and Jamie Whitworth (0) to see Hanwood fall to 5/45 with 13.4 overs gone.

Oliver Bartter (9) and Ben Rowston (19) were able to put on 31-runs for the sixth wicket before the pair fell with three balls of each other.

Hanwood captain Charlie Cunial (32) added crucial runs before the reintroduction of Peruzzi saw him pick up Cunial, and Angus Bartter (6) before Theo Valeri (1/21) picked up the final wicket of Dean Wynne (2) to see Hanwood bowled out for 121.

Diggers looked to make a strong start when Ben Watts and Scott Smith walked out to the crease and were able to do just what was required.

The pair put on 47 runs in 11 overs before Watts (34) was finally dismissed by Todd Argus (1/15), Hanwood would be looking to add another couple quickly to put Diggers on the backfoot.

The ever-green Trevor Richards, returning for his first game of the season, came out to replaced the dismissed Watts and continued to score runs at a quick rate.

While Smith was holding up the other end, Richards was able to score at a run a ball to lift Diggers into a match-winning position.

Hanwood wasn’t able to pick up a wicket when it was needed, and the pair were able to guide their side to a convincing nine-wicket win with 64 balls remaining.

Richards finished unbeaten on 50 runs of 51 deliveries while Smith played a perfect supporting role to post 20* off 92 deliveries.

Diggers will be looking to continue their pursuit of the top of the table Exies when they take on Coro next week while Hanwood will face off with Leagues next weekend.