Tara Murray
Hoppers Crossing worked itself back into the match against Oakleigh on Saturday in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association south-west.
The Cats were hoping to bounce back after a frustrating match the weekend before.
After dominating for most of the two days play against Caulfield, the match ended in a draw after it started late due to rain.
Some other games played the whole 80 overs on the Sunday, leaving confusion and frustration through the teams.
On Saturday against Oakleigh the Cats were slow out of the blocks on Saturday.
But a good back end effort with the ball by the Cats left them with a competitive run chase on day two.
Captain-coach Simon Lambert they were made to work hard early on.
“They were 0-170,” he said. “They were 9-280 at close.
“It wasn’t a bad effort after being 0-170 after 50 overs and staring down a 300-plus score on good pitch and fast outfield.
“We gave them a couple of chances that they should not have had.”
Lambert said he was pleased to see how the group fought back later on to give themselves something respectable to chase.
Having made 290 the previous weekend, Lambert said they felt confident of getting those runs if they batted at their best.
“The pitch is good and there’s a fast outfield,” he said. “We made 290 last week and that equates to about 350-400 on this ground, against one of the best sides in the competition.
“We don’t see any reason why we can’t chase down that score. Our top six has not really fired and we keep putting up some good scores.
“We need to turn up, if we don’t, we get beaten.”
Lambert said they were hoping to get a bit more of a spread of runs in their top six, hopefully starting this week.
Just two players have scored more than 100 runs so far this season. Lambert leads the way with 234 and is among the top scorers in the competition, while Daryl Sunder Ferrario has scored 172 on the back of a couple of good knocks in recent weeks.
The next best is 68.
Elsewhere, Werribee made 230 against Malvern in its match at Chirnside Park.
WIth just one from the first five rounds, the Tigers are desperate to get some more points on the board.
Nathan Taylor top scored with 72 as they had a lot of starts without anyone else going on with it.
The Tigers were bowled out in the 72 over.
It was a good start with the ball for the Tigers late on Saturday.
Having to bowl six overs, the Tigers have Malvern in trouble at 2-16.
Jonathan Burton and Stephen Plumridge have a wicket each for the Tigers.
