Nagambie and Mooroopna — enjoying a remarkable start to their maiden ventures in the women’s grade — occupy the top two spots on the ladder after five rounds as their winning streaks stretched out past four.
The Lakers enjoyed a 28-run triumph over Bamawm-Lockington United, while Mooroopna skipped away to a comfortable 35-run win over Katamatite.
BLU elected to send Nagambie to the crease on its home deck and the home side was tasked with posting a target for the first time this season.
Lakers skipper Kait Carracher blasted 34 not out from 30 deliveries as the hosts posted a commanding score of 4-106 from 20 overs.
The visitors fought gallantly, with opener Amy Fitzgerald crunching a game-high 45 not out, however, some damaging bowling from Carracher (2-3) and Alicia Nicol (2-3) restricted them to 78 in reply.
Nagambie president Ryan Matthews said the women’s outfit had grown in skill and confidence over the course of the opening month of play.
“It was the first time that we were put in to bat first, so to post a target over 100 was really pleasing,” he said.
“Kait and Sharay (Slivarich), they really steadied the ship with their partnership and settled things a bit for us. We were pretty confident that we were able to defend (the total), but credit to BLU and their opener, she came back out at the end and was playing proper cricket shots and if they had a full 11 it might have been different.
“But to get the win and be four and zip, it’s a real credit to the playing group.
“Kait is the only one who has played before this season ... but they are so committed. They train Wednesday nights, but they’ve been going down Monday, Wednesday and Friday and getting the full 12 and 13 players along.
“After the first training session I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s fantastic how much they have come and it will be exciting to see how far they can go this season.”
At the Cattery, Jeff Vandermeer and Brendan Sleeth have been mentoring one of the most impressive outfits in the league.
Mooroopna’s four wins include scalps over both Echuca contingents and last year’s grand finalist Shepparton United.
The most recent triumph came at Katamatite and it was an “even-spread of contributors” that impressed Vandermeer.
Gemma Boyd has been a revelation at the top of the order, however, she posted 34 from 19 deliveries at number six and spearheaded her side to 5-115 from 20 overs.
Katty could only muster 7-80 in reply, with Boyd (2-3) starring once again and Bella Woods (2-5) finally getting reward for her consistent bowling.
“It was good to give a couple of other girls an opportunity at the weekend, it’s tough with it being a 20-over game to give everyone a fair go at it,” Vandermeer said.
“So it was great to see some of the girls that haven’t had a go perform really well. That’s been something that has stood out to Brendan and myself, that everyone’s contributing.
“We’ve got a pretty good group who all get along, about eight all go to school together, and then Lauren (Hall) helps give a bit of direction when they need it.”
Vandermeer praised the performances of Boyd and Woods in Sunday’s triumph.
“Gemma’s last few overs were really good; we decided to take the power play and her ability to just hit the ball on both sides of the ground is amazing,” Vandermeer said.
“She is very good all around the wicket, can hit all areas of the ground and she seems to have a variety of shots. Bella has been Miss Consistent this season. She always seems to hit that spot and length that’s tricky for the batter. She is super consistent.”
In the remaining games, Nathalia picked up its second win of the campaign.
Nathalia’s target of 89 was enough in the end, with the visiting Rochester chalking up 69 in reply.
Shepparton United got back to winning ways with a gritty and narrow 15-run victory over Echuca White.
United elected to bat first and a classy 20-run knock from Mel Saunders helped project the away side to 5-104.
Diane Poole (2-10), Rebecca Laino (2-7) and Saunders (2-12) collected multiple scalps as White reached 6-89 in reply.
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