Wollongong and Bally extend lead at the top of Cricket Illawarra ladder

The victories came in contrasting styles - with the Lighthouse Keepers surviving a six-run thriller against Keira while the Magpies thrashed University by eight wickets - but were effective as they both remain undefeated after three rounds.

Wollongong captain Toby Dodds won the toss and elected to bat first at North Dalton Park. The hosts were in at early trouble at 1/20, but handy knocks from skipper Dodds (35), David Studholme (34) and Callum Dodds (33) guided them to a total of 196 runs.

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In reply, the Lions were under the pump at 3/50, but recovered thanks to a 108-run partnership between Oliver Needham and Neel Honavar. Toby Dodds provided the huge breakthrough, trapping Honavar lbw for 65, before Needham (70) was the next man dismissed with the scoreboard reading 5/170.

Keira's lower order continued to rally, but the side was bowled out for 190 in the 50^th over. Tyler Johns was the star for Wollongong, taking 5/13 from five overs.

Meanwhile, Balgownie proved far too strong for Uni at University Oval on Saturday. Captain Jamie Fleming and Dean Watson were in red-hot form for the Magpies with the ball, combining for eight wickets, as the hosts were restricted to 134.

Bally were aggressive in response, chasing down the target in just the 17^th over for the loss of two wickets. Jaymee Dillon belted 13 boundaries in his unbeaten innings of 62 from 40 balls, while opener Rob Fisher smashed 37 from 28 deliveries.

"Whenever you can be home by three o'clock, you can't complain about that. We even got a chance to watch the final race for The Gong, so it worked out well," Fleming laughed.

"We bowled very well, but our batting has really been a strength this year. I think in three games, we've faced 60 overs and scored about 6/400. Our batting has just been clinical, and we knocked them off in 16 overs. Jaymee Dillon hasn't played much in the last couple of years, but he's back playing this year and hit 62-odd off 40 rocks, and it's really good to have him back in the team."

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Fleming said it was pleasing to see his side at the top of the ladder.

"We probably had 10 years of real dominance of playing a lot of finals, but the last two years, we've kind of slipped out and haven't had a great year," he said.

"But this year, us older guys have made a conscious effort to make ourselves available and blooded a couple of youngsters into the team, and we've wanted to set the tone from the start of the year. We're going to lose games throughout the year, but if we're around the top two or three come finals time, I can guarantee that no team is going to want to play us in the finals."

Elsewhere, Wests Illawarra secured their second successive victory after recording a five-wicket win over Corrimal at Ziems Park on Saturday.

Port Kembla and Northern Districts also broke through for their first wins of the one-day competition. Port defeated Dapto by 38 runs at Reed Park, while Twenty20 champions the Butchers beat Helensburgh by four wickets at Hollymount Park.

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