A 93 run partnership between Jack Lewthwaite and Brody Clarke has helped Nulla to a narrow 17 run win against Rovers at Athletic on Saturday.
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The mammoth fifth wicket stand meant that the side finished on 171 with their opponents only managing 154 in reply.
Captain Brody Clarke who top scored for his side with 82 said it felt good to spend an extended amount of time out in the middle.
“It was nice to finally get some runs myself and from a team perspective, the partnership with Jack really helped to set up the win,” he said.
“Our bowlers were fantastic again and while we let it slip a little bit at the end, I thought we were always in control.”
In a replay of last seasons grand final, it looked like Rovers were again on track to get the better of their opponents early on as Nick Millar ripped through the Nulla top order to leave the side reeling at 4-21.
The middle order came to the rescue however with Clarke and Lewthwaite combining to take the score past 100 before the latter was dismissed for 53 off the bowling of Rovers captain Tim Smith.
Sufficient support from the lower order took the score past 150 with Clarke eventually dismissed for 82.
Millar and Smith were the pick of the Rovers bowlers with three wickets each.
Both the Rovers’ top and middle order batsmen were able to make starts but could not emulate the effort of Clarke and Lewthwaite.
The lower order made the most significant contribution to the innings with an unbeaten 36 to Millar and 23 runs to number eleven Troy Mckiernan getting the side within range of the Nulla total.
They would end up falling just short as Mckiernan’s run out sealed victory for Nulla.
Steven Lewthwaite lead the bowling attack with 3-18 off seven overs while Dave Baker also contributed three wickets.
Rovers captain Tim Smith paid tribute to his Nulla counterpart in describing the loss.
“Obviously we are disappointed with the loss because we started out great with the ball but just couldn’t keep the momentum going,” he said.
“In saying that, Brody didn’t give us any chances to get him out before we did. In the end I was pretty happy that we managed to get as close as we did.”