The battle between two of Goulburn Murray Cricket’s struggling sides kicked off with L-G winning the toss and perhaps sensing wickets were on offer, sending Tongala in to bat.
Tonny’s openers, Stephen Townsend and Jayden Tucker, held firm for the first three overs although without many runs to show for their efforts, before the procession began.
Captain James Keath struck first for L-G removing Townsend for one, and five straight ducks would follow from Tongala.
From 0-3, Tonny was quickly 4-3, losing four wickets in 10 balls.
The last two of those ten saw Keath on a hat-trick, and although he provided the visitor a reprieve when the hat-trick ball went for five wides, he had his fourth wicket and third of the over four balls later.
Blake Gibson was also in on the action, taking his second the following over to see Tongala to 6-8 within seven overs.
Mercifully for Tonny, the tail provided some reprieve from the turnstile that the crease had become, and Dylan Taylor advanced the score off the bat for the first time in eight overs at the end of the ninth.
Lachlan Caldwell and Taylor held it together and at least slowed the cascade of wickets, but runs remained difficult to come by and when both were gone the score had advanced only to 8-17.
Hugo Monnich Vo had a swing late with nothing to lose and ended up top scoring for the Blues with 15 from 18, Tongala bowled out in 19.3 overs for 41.
After the lightning start captain James Keath was loath to make a bowling change and kept himself and Gibson on for their full 10 overs each.
Keath would finish 6-23, and Gibson 4-11 in the dominant two-man performance.
The wasn’t much to write home about in the inevitably successful run chase.
Jason Keath and Scott Lucas got the job done with ease and without loss in less than eight overs, Keath making 19 and Lucas 20.
The win moves L-G back above Tongala and into seventh, undoing the good work from the Blues the jprevious week when they shocked Echuca South.
At the league’s halfway point, both sides (2-6) are unlikely to feature in finals unless this is turned around significantly and quickly.
In positive news for Tongala, it visits winless Nondies-Cohuna at Cohuna Recreation Reserve this weekend, while Leitchville-Gunbower is also away to Rochester.
The Game
Tongala 41 (Hugo Monnich Vo 15, James Keath 6-23, Blake Gibson 4-11) lt Leitchville-Gunbower 0-42 (Scott Lucas 20 not out, Jason Keath 19 not out)
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