Illawarra has improved its ranking to fifth in the NSW Country Colts series after two impressive victories during this year's tournament, held in Wollongong over the weekend.
Central Coast emerged eventual winners from the three-day fixture, defeating Southern by four wickets yesterday following a strong bowling charge led by Jordan O'Donnell (3-24).
Southern won the toss and opted to bat first, opening a handy margin of 135 thanks to Duncan Maddinson (36) and Michael Coulton (29).
But Central Coast steadily chased down the target and weren't very troubled by Southern's bowling and fielding attack, finishing at 6-136 to take the game and the series.
The eight-team tournament had to be abandoned on Friday due to wet weather, thus forcing the bottom four-seeded teams out of finals contention.
For Illawarra, ranked seventh from the previous year's carnival, this meant a matter of trying to improve its overall ranking.
Coach Steve Davies' men made the most of the situation, first overcoming Central Northern with a 14-run victory on Saturday, and then accounting for Riverina in a resounding 86-run triumph yesterday.
Illawarra and Central Coast were the only two teams to win both of their round matches for the weekend carnival.
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