Keira hoping to kickstart season after claiming crucial Cricket Illawarra victory

The Lions claimed a 28-run win at Figtree Oval on Saturday, with the Devils losing 6-22 to capitulate late in the run chase.

The victory was Keira's first of the competition-proper for the season and Connor said it was nice to finally join the winner's circle.

"It was good to get the win, the first one for us in the season in the main competition," Connor said.

"It was a really good game, both teams played well, so it was good to get the win.

"I hope this kickstarts our year. I spoke to the boys about putting a full performance on the field, we had either batted well or bowled well, but not both.

"That was the closest we've come to a full performance, we batted quite well to bat the 50 and post a good total, we could've bowled a little better, but encouraging signs were there."

After winning the toss and batting first, Keira worked hard to get through a tricky first 10 overs of the innings.

With that achieved, middle-order batsmen Dan Constable and Troy Gasseling kept the scoreboard ticking over, with Constable making 65 and Gasseling 67.

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Ultimately the Lions made their way to 6-246, a total that Connor was confident his side could defend.

"We spoke about batting in partnerships. In previous weeks we were losing a couple of wickets in a row and putting ourselves under pressure.

"With new batsmen at both ends, it's hard to keep the scoreboard ticking over. We did that well this week, we reassessed if we lost a wicket and made sure we didn't lose two in a row.

"I was happy we got to 246 at the end of our innings. I knew we'd have to bowl really well, though, Wests bat quite deep and there wasn't much in the track for the bowlers."

Connor was not feeling so confident midway through the second innings, however, with Wests captain Zach Churchill and Blake Smith combining for a 108-run partnership to take the Devils to 4-196.

That was where Smith would depart, with Constable claiming the crucial wicket.

From there, the Devils folded, a combination of tight bowling and scoreboard pressure seeing the lower-order unable to mount a late fightback.

Ultimately Wests were bowled out for 218 in the 49^th over, with Keira consigning the Devils to their first loss of the season.

"They batted extremely well," Connor said. "They didn't give us a chance and managed to tick the scoreboard over consistently.

"We had to be patient and build scoreboard pressure. We managed to do that and then Dan got the breakthrough for us and it all fell into place.

"Hugo Ikeda was really impressive again, for the second week in a row. Even on a dead track, he managed to get key wickets, bowl good areas and reduce runs.

"I was pretty happy with the bowling effort, but we need to pick up our fielding a little bit. The boys know that."

In Saturday's other matches, University captain Mitchell Hearn produced one of the finest individual performances of the day, the all-rounder scoring 115 to help his side set a respectable total of 9-180.

Ultimately it wasn't enough, with Northern Districts comfortably chasing their target.

Balgownie fell short in their run chase against Helensburgh, while Dapto and Wollongong both comfortably chased down their targets.

HELENSBURGH 9-191 defeated BALGOWNIE 174

CORRIMAL 199 defeated by DAPTO 3-202

KEIRA 6-246 defeated WESTS 218

UNIVERSITY 9-180 defeated by NORTHERN DISTRICTS 4-181

PORT KEMBLA 112 defeated by WOLLONGONG 1-113

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