An encounter with any Parkes side has the potential to go to the wire but, off the back of brilliant bowling, the Valleys' A Grade side scored a resounding victory over Colts at home on Saturday.
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Despite winning the toss and electing to bat, the visitors couldn't get any momentum to swing their way, with Valleys captain Ben Houghton coming up trumps.
Colts' openers Paul Dunford and Joe Tanswell both fell to Houghton's skill with the ball, only managing to score 17 and five runs respectively.
Raj Parmar and Peter Yelland were dismissed cheaply cheaply at the hands of Lanty Ryan - the former caught on six and the latter caught behind on two.
Phillip Dunford (17) and Brent Tucker (19) had a slightly better time at the crease before Dunford was sent packing by Tom Thuaux and Tucker was caught behind off the bowling of Emerson Baratto.
Thuaux also took the scalp of Joe Van Opynen, dismissing him for a duck.
Paul Moody and Geordie Duncan left with 13 and a single next to their names respectively, with Moody bowled by Jackson Moodie and Duncan taken LBW by Houghton.
Colts' Andrew Britt (24 not out) and Ewan Moody (1 not out) brought an end to the visitor's innings.
In reply, Valleys took just over half their overs to catch the total of 116 set by Colts.
Opener Jake Miller was unlucky to be bowled by Brent Tucker for a duck, however Sam McNaught got the side off to a good start making 37 before being caught off the bowling of Britt.
Jacob McNaught and Greg Garlick fell cheaply, with McNaught bowled by Tucker for five and Garlick caught off the bowling of Parmar for 13.
Tom Thuaux was caught for nine, while Isaac McFarland and Moodie finished the chase not out on 11 and 28 respectively.
Houghton said it was good to get the win.
"I'm pretty happy with that," he said.
"We were five down at the end in the 26th over, so its comfortable enough, we always love a [opposition] batting collapse."
He said the whole side had played well both in the field and with the bat in hand.
"It was a real good effort all around with the ball, the wickets got shared around," he said.
"Then with the bat, Sam McNaught got 30-odd, Isaac McFarland and Jackson Moodie both got 20-odd not out at the end and got us home."
Houghton said the focus now was on continuing to press the home field advantage with Cambridge Cats visiting this weekend.
"They are probably the team to beat, so playing them at home will be good," he said.
"We're hoping to get the win there, so we'll work on a few things during the week."
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Matthew Chown
Some of my favourite memories growing up are of picking up a newspaper and learning about the world. This inspired me to become a journalist and tell local stories with a passion. Email: matthew.chown@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Some of my favourite memories growing up are of picking up a newspaper and learning about the world. This inspired me to become a journalist and tell local stories with a passion. Email: matthew.chown@austcommunitymedia.com.au
