Hoppers Crossing will do well to avoid an outright loss to Yarraville in sub-district cricket this Saturday.
First innings points have already eluded the Cats after yet another unproductive performance with the bat at the Yarraville Oval on day one.
The Cats could muster only 91, despite being out in the middle for 56.2 overs.
They scored at a snail-paced 1.62 runs an over with Sanka Abeyruwan the leading scorer with 22; Chris Henry (14), Hendro Dias (11no) and Adrian Myers (11) were the only others in double figures.
Yarraville showed the visitors how it was done, making 1-122 off just 27 overs for a first innings lead of 31 with nine wickets in hand.
Once skipper Greg Kennedy removed Matthew Harrison for four, the Cats had no answer to the brilliance of Matthew Love (66no) and Josh Hahnel (44no), who combined for an unbeaten 95.
The Eagles played with urgency, knowing an outright result could give them a slight sniff of making the finals.
Yarraville will get a chance to dictate proceedings on the second day.
Maximum points will surely be in the Eagles’ thinking, which could make for exciting cricket.
