Horsham notched up a second win to go along with its victory in December’s city oval fixture but not before a bit of a scare. Grampians captain Michael Harricks won the toss and batted first on a cracked and green Central Park wicket.

His side was in trouble early as Tony Caccievllo made the most of a difficult wicket to bat on. By the end of his second over, he had picked up three wickets and conceded two runs.

“Tony bowled really well,” Harricks said.

“It was a difficult wicket to bat on because it was dry but green at one end and cracked at the other. That made it a bit more of a bowlers game.”

The Grampians side struggled to recover and lost wickets on a regular basis before being bowled out for 57 in the last over of its innings.

“Horsham’s attack bowled well but there was also a couple of ordinary shots,” Harricks said. “It was a case of batsmen attacking the ball and bowlers almost drawing the wickets out.”

The low run chase was made more difficult in poor light conditions.

Justtin Combe and Nathan Koenig opened the batting for Horsham. Koenig was dismissed for 10, with the team’s score on 11 and it was up to Justtin and Matt Combe to counter the nervous jitters of an early wicket in a low chase.

After the pair’s 22-run partnership was broken, wickets began to fall more steadily. Horsham’s side fell from 1-33 to 6-39.

“At that stage we started to think we were back in it,” said Harricks.

“They still needed another 19 and we had to take four wickets.”

Dan Griffith’s nine runs gave Horsham a bit more room to breathe before Caccievello saw the side over the line with two wickets to spare by edging a four in the 17^th over. “It was always going to be difficult defending such a low total, but you just never know if you can get those early wickets,” Harricks said.

“It was nice to end the series with a much more exciting game than the one in Horsham, when we got a bit of a touch-up.”

The first series of the renewed friendly rivalry between the associations was enjoyed by those involved on both sides, despite Horsham winning both games.

“The first year you do something there is always going to be a few things to work out,” Harricks said.

“Hopefully both associations get behind it again next season to make into something bigger and better.”