SPRING Gully has grabbed top spot on the Emu Valley Cricket Association ladder as it inflicted a second-consecutive loss on United on Saturday.

The Crows avenged their round one hiding from the Tigers to win by 37 runs at home in the clash of the two arch-rivals to hit off the second half of the season.

The Crows posted 8-200 off their 40 overs in an innings where five players contributed at least 20.

Byron Perrin top-scored with an unbeaten 44, while Justin Webb - coming off 99 n.o. in the Crows' T20 game on Tuesday night - picked up from where he left off, cracking a quickfire 43 off just 23.

Webb added 66 for the fifth wicket with Alex Sutton (37), starting their partnership with the Crows' 4-70.

Jarrod Starr's 4-42 for the Tigers included the big wicket of Crows' star batsman Rhys Webb (4).

With a solid score to defend, Spring Gully's Beauden Rinaldi then turned the screws on the United batting line-up, taking the first three wickets to fall.

And when Sutton trapped Tom Calvert (0) lbw the Tigers were 4-42 and on the ropes.

The Tigers finished 37 runs short when bowled out for 163, with the bulk of the runs coming from No.3 Alex Code (76), who took his season tally to 300.

Rinaldi finished with 3-16 for the Crows, while Rhys Webb (3-34) also snared three wickets, as well as running out Mitch Whittle (1) to end the game.

Mandurang's James Bailey hit the winning runs as the Rangas edged out Sedgwick in a one-wicket thriller to maintain their one-game buffer inside the top four.

Chasing Sedgwick's 6-207, the Rangas were still three shy of victory when they lost their ninth wicket with the dismissal of Adam Lalor (0) by Andrew Sheehan (1-19).

That left No.11 Bailey to join Corey Dickins at the crease.

A single to Dickins off Bailey Ilsley (1-35) took the Rangas to 206, before two balls later Bailey scored two to take Mandurang to 9-208 and a gripping victory.

Dickins made a match-winning 88 n.o - his second unbeaten half-century in a row - and shared in a 113-run stand for the sixth wicket with Brayden Coates (48).

Skipper Jordan Ilsley (3-33) and Greg Thomas (3-34) both claimed three scalps for the Rams, with Thomas now the competition's leading wicket-taker with 17.

One of Ilsley's three wickets was former Australian under-16 representative Zane Keighran, who he trapped lbw for a first-ball duck.

Earlier, the returning Rick Ladson (66) and Jordan Ilsley (64) both made half-centuries and hit 10 sixes between them in the Rams' 6-207.

As well as hitting the winning runs Bailey (2-32) also snared two wickets for the Rangas as they inflicted a fifth-straight loss on Sedgwick.

Marong has won three games in a row for the first time since 2013-14.

The Panthers continued their solid form with an 82-run win over Axe Creek.

Sent in to bat the Panthers compiled 6-189, which featured a brisk 53 off 45 from Chris Dixon - his second half-century in a row.

Skipper Ash Dixon (2-33) and Nathan Nikolic (2-38) both picked up two wickets for the Cowboys, who batted their 40 overs in reply, but were restricted to 7-106.

Jayden Laubsch (2-3) had the Cowboys tied down with an economical eight overs that included five maidens.

Emu Creek cracked the season's highest score so far in its 111-run win over West Bendigo.

The Emus made the most of the invitation to bat first, scoring at more than seven-per-over as they crunched 6-284, with skipper Simon Marwood (86), Tyrone Downie (74) and Alex Collins (54) all contributing half-centuries.

Those three players on their own outscored the Redbacks, who replied with 8-173, which included an unbeaten 56 from Connor Robertson.

The Emus' Luke Bennett (3-30) produced the game's best bowling figures.

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