West Wimmera hit 403 runs in Horsham Cricket's round three

The 2022/23 HCA premiers, West Wimmera, showed that the winter hasn't worn away at their might as the side dominated against Laharum.

The Warriors got off to shaky start at Nhill's Davis Park.

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Opener, Zak Guiniven, and number three, Jeremy Weeks, both lost their wickets for nought, with Laharum's Joel Pymer doing the damage.

Laharum had the league powerhouse in trouble at 2-3, but brothers Nathan and Bradley Alexander came together at the crease to steady the ship.

Nathan's wicket was next to fall but not until the pair had posted 174.

Jackson Hoffman was the bowler to break through, sending Nathan to the pavilion for 82.

That wicket did not end the hurt for Laharum, as Bradley Alexander continued in fine form.

He built another partnership with Brett Jensz, adding 126 runs before further loss.

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Bradley Alexander's wicket finally fell to Laharum's Harrison Hoffman, with his final tally reaching 168 off 185 balls.

After a couple late partnerships, Jensz's wicket also fell late in the day, run out for 91.

At stumps, West Wimmera had set an imposing 403 for Laharum to chase.

Returning to Davis Park on Sunday, October 22, Laharum's Dayan Wilfred and Sean Wouters opened the chasers account.

If Laharum were to bat the day out, they'd need to score at a rate of more than five runs per over.

Regardless, the Demons made a conservative start.

West Wimmera kept the pressure high, and after 13 straight dots, Nathan Alexander broke through Wouters defence, ending his day for one.

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Experienced batsmen, Ben Peucker was next to the crease, but Alexander proved clinical.

He dismissed Wilfred (14 off 29) and Max Bunworth (0 off 1) on consecutive balls.

Peucker saw another partnership end early before he lost his own wicket for 20 runs.

Joshua Mahoney made a start in Laharum's lower order, scoring 26 before being caught behind by Trevor Polkinghorne off the bowling of Guiniven.

After 45 overs, Laharum's 10^th wicket fell with the team totalling 99, leaving the Demons 304 short of their target.

The Horsham Tigers' cricketers also played themselves into a strong position in the first two-day game of the season.

The side took 37 overs to cut through Homers batting order at Sunnyside Recreation Reserve.

Both Homers' openers fell for ducks, while Logan Miller (16 off 21) was the only top six batsmen to reach double figures.

Chaminda Gamage top-scored for the home side with 33 runs off 71 balls, as he built a lower order partnership of 51 runs.

But, Tigers' bowler, Jake Durdin, was too much trouble for Homers, taking five wickets for 32 runs.

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Having been set 107 runs to chase, Horsham Tigers made handy work of it.

Brenton Hallam and Angus Adams combined for a 59 run partnership for the Tigers second wicket.

The Tigers' stumbled with a couple of false starts in the middle order, but the side past its target before stumps.

With an outright victory in its sight, the Tigers ended the day with Prabath Bandara (19 off 28) and Aaron Leith (2 off 9) not out as the team's score sat at 5/131.

Outright victory is also the goal for the Noradjuha Toolondo as the Bullants pushed past the 99-run mark set by Blackheath Dimboola.

Nathan Schorback (23 off 49) top-scored for the Blackheath Dimboola while only three other players made double figures.

Heath Lang did the damage to the middle order, taking four wickets for 19 runs.

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The Bullants opened its response with a 27-run stand before the first wicket fell.

Unshaken, Shane Oakley continued on, bringing up a half-century in the midst of a 75 run partnership with Matthew Combe.

With the Bullants at 2/111, Combe remained not out at stumps (31 off 60), with Troy Dumesny (2 off 4) having only just taken to the crease.

Lubeck Murtoa is the only side yet to bat in round two as Horsham Saints kept them in the field for all 76 overs on Saturday.

Saints built a total of 164, scoring at a rate of 2.2 runs per over.

Rod Kirkwood top-scored with 46 off 174 balls, while the middle order struggled to score.

Jono Carroll (19 off 58) and Brody Devlin (19 off 37) combined for a late partnership of 30 runs.

Lubeck-Murtoa will start its run chase at Coughlin Park on Sunday, October 28.

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