THE Horsham Saints remain in the hunt for an unlikely berth in the Horsham Cricket Association A Grade one day final with two rounds to play after a narrow win against Jung Tigers.
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After Justtin Combe picked up his second five-wicket haul of the season the Saints made hard work of what looked to be a relatively low target.
Saints captain Tony Caccaviello won the toss and opted to bowl first at Dimboola Road.
An aggressive start by Sam Leith and Angus Adams saw both runs and chances come quickly.
The pair managed to put on 47 before Leith finally holed out to Haydn Smith off the bowling of Matt Combe and as another partnership started to build it looked as though the Tigers were gaining momentum.
When Jono Carroll removed Adams for 23 the game slowly started to turn but it was not until the introduction of Justtin that the Saints really started to get on top.
The right-arm spinner’s consistency allowed him to firstly contain and then cash in.
Wickets started to fall more frequently after the removal of Brett Jensz for 25 before the tigers were all out for 152 in the 41st over.
Justtin finished with 5-9.
It was a similarly aggressive start for the Saints batting order in reply however the side had more trouble holding onto its wickets.
After stuttering to 3-43 Caccaviello stepped up with the bat for a second week in a row to put his side in a more commanding position.
The Saints captain hit a brisk 56 and had moved the score along to 124 by the time he was the fifth wicket to fall.
Craig Klemm fell for 19 shortly after and when Martyn Knight claimed two wickets in consecutive balls the Saints sat precariously at 8-144.
The experienced Clint King stepped up to hit the winning runs by lofting the ball over the mid-wicket boundary to secure the two-wicket win.
Knight finished with 5-16 off four overs.
Laharum’s chances of an appearance in the one day final were dealt a big blow when the side came up short against Rup-Minyip.
Laharum captain Dan Griffith’s hit 47 to allow his side to set a reasonable total of 148 as Blake Turner chimed in with four wickets for Rup-Minyip.
Ryan Metelmann hit top form with the bat to guide the Blue Panthers successful run chase.
The opener hit an unbeaten 81 which allowed the side to reach its target with eight wickets and 12 overs to spare.
Homers did the job easily against Blackheath-Dimboola.
The Bulls struggled to 106 on the back of Simon Hopper’s 5-34 and Eddie Landwehr’s 3-20.
The chase was over before the lights at Horsham City Oval had a chance to take full effect as Michael Langford scored 67 from just 33 deliveries.
Paddy Mills then came in to finish the job for Homers within 14 overs.