Chasing 215, Roos recover from 7-58 to knock off Suns in BDCA

Burns and Hamblin have more than 500 first XI games between them for the Roos and their vast experience rose to the fore as Kangaroo Flat rallied from the brink to inflict the first loss of the season on Strathdale-Maristians.

Chasing Strathdale-Maristians' 215 in the grand final rematch at Dower Park, the reigning premier Roos looked like being steamrolled as they crashed to 7-58.

The Roos still required a further 158 runs with 51 overs left in the day against an opponent that rarely fails to capitalise on a position of such dominance when Hamblin joined Burns at the crease just before 3pm.

Burns had last week played the role of night watchman, elevated up the order to No.3 after the Roos lost Daniel Barber (2) late as they closed day one at 1-19.

But in reality, Burns was only night watchman by name given he does now have eight first XI centuries on his CV.

For the first 34 overs of Saturday's play Burns had to watch on from the other end as wickets tumbled, with the Roos losing 6-39 and looking headed for a heavy loss.

Enter Hamblin, who together with Burns firstly stemmed the flow of wickets and then began to build belief among the Roos that they could pull off a special partnership.

With 20 overs left in the innings the veteran pair had pushed the Roos along to 7-138, leaving 78 to get from 120 deliveries.

They added a further 55 off the next 15 overs to advance the score to 7-193 and 23 more required off the final 30 balls.

But it would only take 22 more balls for the pair to complete the stunning rescue mission as - fittingly - Burns hit the winning runs with a cut-shot boundary off Sam Johnston.

From 7-58 the Roos finished 7-219 to win by three wickets, with Burns showing enormous determination - and concentration - to bat through the entire day's play of 83.4 overs, which finished just before 6pm.

Burns faced 259 balls in making an unbeaten 108 in what was his first century since the 2018-19 season.

The four Burns hit to bring up the winning runs was his 11th boundary of the innings to cap off a brilliant all-round performance in which he also had the game's best bowling figures of 4-31 on day one.

Coach Hamblin finished 71 n.o. off 155 balls with four boundaries as he finished the job with Burns, taking the pressure away from the last two Roos' players padded up - Clayton Smith and Kenny Beith.

Hamblin cashed in on some luck when he was dropped at point on 33 by Tom Purcell off Ben DeAraugo (0-21) when the Roos were still more than 80 runs from victory.

The win was the Roos' fourth in a row and maintains their spot in second on the ladder, trailing the Suns by 10 points.

Suns' captain Cameron Taylor and Sam Johnston carried a heavy load with the ball with a combined 60.4 overs between them.

Johnston sent down 30.4 overs for a return of 4-68, which included being on a hat-trick at one stage when he dismissed Matt Dwyer (1) and Dylan Klemm (0) both lbw on the first two deliveries of his 11th over.

And Taylor bowled 30 overs for his 1-69. At one stage Taylor had conceded just 13 runs from his first 19 overs.

152 runs on day one, five wickets on day two - Bendigo's Kyle Humphrys produced a brilliant all-round double as the Goers thumped White Hills at Atkins Street.

With Humphrys bagging 5-51 from 15.2 overs White Hills fell well short of Bendigo's 6-334, with the Demons all out for 179.

The Demons had been 5-171 before losing 5-8 in just 27 balls, with Humphrys taking three of the last five wickets to fall in a game where he earned 252 Addy MVP points.

Bailey Goodwin's 3-41 off 14 overs for the Goers included the key wicket of Demons' captain Brayden Stepien (7), whose middle peg he knocked over.

Goodwin would later begin the cluster of five quick wickets to fall to end the innings when he trapped Rhys Irwin (11) lbw.

Unlike the 217-run stand Humphrys (152) and Nathan Fitzpatrick (111) shared in on day one, the Demons battled to put together any partnerships of significance, with the best being the 44 top-scorer Michael Nalesnyik (47) and Caleb Barrass (20), who dug in for 116 balls, added for the fifth wicket.

The win leaves Bendigo now just percentage outside the top four, while White Hills - which was 2-53 in its second innings - has slipped two games adrift of the four with only three rounds remaining.

Sandhurst continues to push for a return to the finals for the first time since its 2018 premiership after beating Eaglehawk at Weeroona Oval.

The winning margin was a comfortable 74 runs - although, the Dragons had been looking anything but comfortable early last week when they had been 3-6.

But after recovering to post 231 the Dragons bowled the Hawks out for 157.

Star leg-spinner Liam Bowe showed his class with 4-37 off 27.4 overs for the Dragons, while gun all-rounder Taylor Beard had a productive day with an economical 2-31 off 18 overs, a catch and a run-out.

The Hawks being bowled out for 157 came after they had started the day at 0-37 and had progressed to 1-92 before losing 9-65.

Young opener Xavier Grant made his second half-century in three hits with 58 for the Hawks, while skipper Aaron Monro with 27 was the only other player to make more than 20.

The win gives the Dragons a 10-point buffer inside the top four.

After losing its first six games of the season Golden Square has now strung together three wins on the trot.

Square turned the heat up on what had been the fourth-placed Bendigo United with a 115-run victory at Wade Street.

Bendigo United faltered dismally with the bat, with the Redbacks unable to get halfway to Golden Square's 200 with the visitors all out for just 85.

Bendigo United had started the round a game clear in fourth spot, but now it end having dropped to fifth position.

All-rounder Liam Smith last week held the Square innings together with his knock of 84 before teaming with Scott Trollope on day two to rip through the Redbacks.

Left-arm spinner Smith (5-13 off 20.2 overs) and Trollope (4-19 off 19) combined for 9-32 off 39.2 overs with 24 maidens between them as they kept the heat on the Redbacks with no let-up.

It was also a good day behind the stumps for Golden Square captain and wicket-keeper Jake Higgins with four catches - two off Trollope and two off Smith. Steve Barrett's 15 was the top score for the Redbacks.

Strathfieldsaye kept Huntly North winless while climbing back into the top four at the expense of Bendigo United.

Defending their 219 having been 3-8 early last week, the Jets ripped through the Power for just 76 to win by 143 runs.

The Jets shared the wickets around with four players taking multiples - captain Ben Devanny (3-23), Chathura Damith (2-23), Savith Priyan (2-11) and Pat Dillon (2-15).

Devanny's three wickets included the two big scalps of Ryan Grundy and Sandun Ranathunga, both for ducks inside the first 18 overs.

More than half the Power's runs came from the pair of opener Jarrod Harris (23) and teenager Kyen Burrill-Grinton (24).