TOP two teams Sedgwick and Spring Gully both blasted scores of more than 400 in the Emu Valley Cricket Association’s return to two-day action on Saturday.
They combined for 825 runs between them – the Rams notching 8-415 against West Bendigo and Crows 4-410 against Mandurang.
Spring Gully’s run-feast at home featured another big century from star all-rounder Rhys Webb.
Webb’s blistering 165 was his third ton of the season and second score in a row of more than 150.
Of Webb’s 165 runs, 120 came through a combination of fours (15) and sixes (10) during his 148-ball stay at the crease.
Webb now has 668 runs for the season at an average of 83.5.
As well as Saturday’s 165, Webb smashed 180 in the previous game he played against West Bendigo in round six, while he also made 124 against Maiden Gully in round two.
In his third season at the Crows, Webb now has six centuries – three of them 150-plus.
The Crows’ domination also featured a pair of half-centuries to Jesse Marciano (78) and Joel Bish (69).
Bish teamed with Webb for a 191-run stand for the third wicket as they lifted the score from 2-167 to 358.
Webb’s innings of 165 came to an end when he was trapped lbw by James Pietromonaco (2-91).
The Crows scored at a run-rate of 5.4 off their 75 overs, while the Rangas could muster just 10 maidens – six of which were bowled by Pietromonaco.
The Crows have now made scores of 4-410, 9-371, 9-350 and 9-286 in their past four two-day games – a total of 1417 runs for the loss of 31 wickets.
• Skipper Rick Ladson scored his fourth career century for Sedgwick as the Rams made the most of being sent in by West Bendigo, carving up the Redbacks' attack for 8-415 at Club Court.
Ladson was at his classy best in cracking 117 off just 79 balls and only needing to run 21 of them.
The other 96 runs came in fours (six) and sixes (12).
The Rams almost had two century-makers in their side, but Andrew Sheehan (96) fell four short of a ton when he was run out.
In total the Sedgwick innings featured 35 fours and 19 sixes and the Redbacks bowled just five maidens among their 75 overs.
Tom Floyd with 3-82 off 19 overs was the leading wicket-taker for the Redbacks, who in three of their past four games against the Rams have conceded scores of 4-560, 420 and 8-415.
• United will push for outright points next week against California Gully after already beating the Cobras on first innings on day one.
The Tigers skittled the Cobras for just 99, with skipper Harry Whittle leading the way with 4-17 off eight overs to continue his fine season with the ball.
Travis Eckardt’s 34 was the top score on an ugly looking scorecard for the winless Cobras, who had just three players reach double figures.
However, the Tigers’ run-chase was looking anything but a formality when they slumped to 6-35 in reply, before Patrick Hartney (45) and Rob Gilchrist (40) steadied the innings with a desperately-needed partnership.
They added 87 for the seventh wicket, taking the Tigers past their target before United declared at 9-144.
Shaun O’Shea (5-52) snared a five-wicket bag for the Cobras, which included four of the scalps to fall in California Gully’s early blitz.
• Maiden Gully’s Glen Oliver produced a stunningly economical bowling performance against Marong.
Opening the bowling, Oliver finished with figures of 3-1 off 11 overs, including 10 maidens, as the Panthers crawled their way to 9-156.
The Panthers did well to survive their quota of 75 overs given they had one stage been 3-7 and then 6-38.
Oliver’s three scalps were all top-order Marong batsmen – Scott Ross (0), Duane Anderson (5) and Adam Brown (2).
While the top-order failed, Marong skipper Tom Wilson dug in at No.9, scoring 66 – his second half-century of the season – and Greg Toomey faced 148 balls in making 16.
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