Swifts-Great Western were never in doubt of winning when they took on Aradale in the Grampians Cricket Association, but it was a case of by how much.
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Swifts-Great Western put a strong first innings total on the board after batting for the full day.
Swifts-Great Western club leader Marc Brilliant labelled the innings as one of the best team batting performances he had been involved in.
He thought if Aradale had have batted out their innings they would be around the mark to make it a strong contest.
Aradale batted for a full day, but the scoreboard did not reflect their efforts.
“We ended up bowling out the day which was really good for us in the end,” Brilliant said.
“We were able to give four of our bowlers who hadn't bowled much since Christmas a good bowl so it worked out perfect in the end in regards to preparation for finals.”
Aradale failed to attack the bowlers at any stage of the match and in the finish it was a no contest.
”They didn't really do anything,” Brilliant said.
“We had them under pressure from the score we set the week before. They didn’t really do much with the bat and the game just rolled out to a no contest.”
Brilliant was pleased with how the Combine performed in the field and the way his bowlers stuck to the task at hand.
“We bowled really well obviously keeping them to two runs an over and getting all our bowlers a good bowl before the finals was ideal,” he said.
The Combine weren’t perfect in the field as they gifted Riley Wood an early innings chance.
Once Brilliant and the rest of the Swifts-Great Western line up sensed no urgency from the Aradale attack the combine changed its plan of attack.
“Our main aim once we could sense they were not going to attempt to chase the score was to ensure we got bowling into everyone,” Brilliant said.
“It was a pretty lackluster day and very little entertainment. It wouldn't have meant much from the sidelines.”
Aradale middle order batsmen Scott Turner and Riley Wood each spent a long time at the crease.
The pair worked the ball around Central Park before they were dismissed.
Wood made 33 while Turner made 28.
Clinton Rodger matched Wood’s innings with another 33 runs down the order.
Brilliant produced the best bowling figures for the Combine with two wickets for 15 runs.
Jackson Dark also took two wickets cheaply while Bach was a little more expensive for his two.
Gary Ranton and Tom McCord chipped in with one wicket each.
With Buangor failing to defeat Pomonal Swifts-Great Western have once again extended its lead on the rest of the competition.