The reigning premiers United had the bye in round three and are the only unbeaten team in pool one, while Spring Gully's win over California Gully has the Crows well-placed to top pool two.

The highlight of Spring Gully's win was the performance of batsman Justin Webb.

After winning the toss and batting, Spring Gully posted 5-171 thanks to Webb's superb knock.

He belted eight sixes and seven fours in his 59-ball stay and fell one run short of what would have been a deserved century.

Webb was 96 not out with one ball of the innings remaining, but couldn't find the boundary and had to settle for a three.

Lachlan Brook chipped in with 34 off 30 balls and added 1010 for the third wicket with Webb.

Aidan White (2-26) was the pick of the bowlers for California Gully.

In reply, the Cobras started solidly enough to be 1-42, but the loss of Justin Bice (20 off eight balls) sparked a stunning collapse which saw the home team lose its final nine wickets for just 43 runs.

Mick Galvin top-scored with 26 in a team total of 85.

Isaac Willits, James Fox and Shaun O'Shea took two wickets each for Spring Gully.

In the other pool two match, Sedgwick didn't have it all its own way against Axe Creek.

The Rams lost marquee player Ryan Grundy on the first ball of the match, but bounced back to reach 4-172 off their 20 overs.

Greg Thomas batted through the 20 overs and made an unbeaten 55 off 45 balls, while Jordan Ilsley hit three sixes in his score of 44 off 34 balls and Steven Stroobants added 26 off 16 balls.

Damien Moyle hit four sixes late in the inning and made 30 not out off 19 balls.

Axe Creek gave itself a chance of causing an upset when marquee player Kyle Humphrys and Jesse Trenfield put together a good partnership for the second wicket.

With four overs remaining Axe Creek required 40 runs with nine wickets in hand.

The 17th over of the innings from Jordan Ilsley proved to be match-defining. He only conceded one run and removed Humphrys for 62 off 46 balls.

Humphrys departure was the beginning of the end for Axe Creek.

Four wickets fell in the final three overs and the visitors finished 6-150.

Jesse Trenfield was unbeaten on 43, while Grundy (3-20) is on a hat-trick the next time he bowls after he took two wickets off the final two balls of the match.

In pool one, West Bendigo opened its account with an impressive win over Emu Creek.

The Redbacks set up their win with a fine bowling performance.

They restricted Emu Creek to 7-139 on the batsman-friendly confines of Ken Wust Oval.

Emu Creek marquee player Cam Taylor top-scored with 58 off 45 balls, while Luke Dyer (28 not out off 25 balls) was the only other player to score more runs than balls faced.

Tarran Kilcullen (2-18 off four overs) and Tom Flloyd (2-20 off four overs) gave little away for the Redbacks, while Josh Connolly took two wickets as well.

Emu Creek needed to take early wickets to put pressure on West Bendigo, but Redback openers Bodee Scullie and Matt Dwyer laid the foundation for the run chase with some good hitting.

Scullie (44) and marquee player Dwyer (30) hit five fours and five sixes between them.

Despite losing three wickets in quick succession in the middle of the innings, the Redbacks reached their target for the loss of four wickets with an over to spare.

Matt Gould (22 not out) and Floyd (19 not out) added 42 for the fifth wicket to see the home side over the line.

Justin Hancock (2-18 off four overs) was the pick of the bowlers for Emu Creek.

Mandurang lifted its pool one season record to 2-1 after it defeated Marong by 28 runs.

Opening batsmen Steve Barrett and Matt Giri had Mandurang on track for a score of 200-plus.

In the first eight overs they scored 92 runs before Giri fell for 49 off just 23 balls, including five sixes.

Barrett also hit five sixes before he fell for 58 off 36 balls.

Their departure took some momentum out of the innings and Marong probably did well to keep the home side to 9-199 of 20 overs.

Nathan Green (3-43) was expensive with the ball for Marong, but he did claim a team-high three wickets.

In reply, Marong lost opening batsman Alex Gorrie for a duck on the second ball of the innings.

Marquee player Dyoan Gibson and number four David Blume dug in and gave their side a slight chance of reeling in the big total.

However, Blume's dismissal for 49 off 35 balls quashed any chance the Panthers had.

Gibson finished 75 not out off 50 balls, including 11 fours and one six, as Marong finished its 20 overs at 7-171.

Barrett and James Pietromonaco claimed two wickets each for Mandurang.

Round four matches will be played next Tuesday night.

Pool one - Emu Creek v United, Marong v West Bendigo. Mandurang bye.

Pool two - Spring Gully v Axe Creek, California Gully v Sedgwick.

Ladders after three rounds:

Pool one - Mandurang 32.99, United 30.14, Emu Creek 20.20, West Bendigo 16.41, Marong 6.37.

Pool two - Spring Gully 31.02, Sedgwick 17.81, California Gully 16.60, Axe Creek 4.62.

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