![Kieran Gilly batting against Kiama Cavaliers. The Rail batter top-scored as his team downed Kiama by 65 runs on Saturday. Picture by Sylvia Liber Kieran Gilly batting against Kiama Cavaliers. The Rail batter top-scored as his team downed Kiama by 65 runs on Saturday. Picture by Sylvia Liber](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/kZL4qV6yTxfrWZJxKQxjSN/9a6396b6-fb0a-4c41-8552-4111aa599e21.jpg/r0_139_2729_1679_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The cream is rising to the top with perennial South Coast cricket heavyweights Lake Illawarra and The Rail producing some impressive displays over the weekend.
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The Lakers were especially good, securing a commanding T20 victory on Friday night before backing up on Saturday to down North Nowra Cambewarra in the one-day competition.
Lake Illawarra captain Kerrod White was particularly good in both games, especially in the T20 victory over the Kiama Cavaliers.
White smashed 110 runs from just 59 balls as the Lakers cruised to a 123-run win at Howard Fowles Oval.
The skipper smashed the ball to all parts, with 76 of those runs coming in boundaries, including eight massive sixes.
White then contributed with the ball, snaring 2-13 as Kiama were bowled out for just 81 in reply to the 5-204 Lake Illawarra posted batting first.
White was at it again on Saturday as he smashed 40 from just 30 balls and took two wickets to guide his team to a seven-wicket win over North Nowra Cambewarra.
He said while he was happy to be batting well, the most important part was contributing to his team's ongoing success.
"It was a good day out for me. Sometimes you have a good day in the sun, and that was one of them," White said of his century on Friday night.
"It was good then to back it up and win on Saturday. It was a bit of a crucial game for us as we were missing a couple of key players.
"After a big win the day before it was important we backed that up with a solid performance and I think we did. I think we batted really well and our young guys with the ball bowled well enough to restrict them to under 170 which was good on a flat wicket."
White added that it was pleasing also that the defending one-day champions were finding ways to win even when they weren't playing their best cricket.
"We had that conversation that it's important to maintain consistency," he said.
"I think we're on the up and up as a team, we're starting to get to know each other and what each others' roles and responsibilities are. I think we're definitely trending in the right direction. Hopefully that rolls into the new year when it really starts to matter."
Meantime it was a mixed weekend for The Rail.
After losing a highly competitive T20 fixture against defending champions Shellharbour City on Friday night, the Razorbacks bounced back to form on Saturday, recording a comfortable 65-run one-day victory over Kiama Cavaliers at Croome Regional Sporting Complex.
The Rail batted first against Kiama and were soon in trouble, with openers Dylan Rae and Hayden Church failing to trouble the scorers.
Kieran Gilly (85) and Adam Ison (59) then steadied the ship before handy contributions from skipper Brett Gilly (26), Tim Goodall (32 not out) and Brad Ison (19 not out) saw the Razorbacks post a competitive 8-257 from their 50 overs.
But despite good contributions from Liam Mackrell (54) and Zac Parker (58), Kiama fell short, posting 5-192 from 42 overs in the rain-affected match.
Ex Servos are just one-point behind leaders The Rail after a comfortable eight-wicket win over Berry-Shoalhaven Heads, while Albion Park Eagles leapfrogged to fifth-spot following their four-wicket win over the Bomaderry Tigers at Keith Grey Oval.
In Saturday's other encounter Bay and Basin Dolphins lost only four wickets in successfully chasing down and passing the 115 scored by the home side Kookas at Oakleigh Park.