Having skittled the Bloods for 80 in the first innings on day one, before declaring at 8-155, Barooga tore through the Tocumwal top order right before stumps, dismissing each of the top four for ducks to resume play on day two at Tocumwal Recreation Reserve with the home side at 5-21 in their second dig.
The Hawks sensed a quick kill, with the Bloods still needing 55 runs to even make the visitors bat again; however, it would take a whole lot more than that to avoid an outright defeat.
It wouldn’t take long for the first domino to fall, with Bowden continuing on from his day one efforts to claim the scalp of Tom White (6), as Tocumwal slipped ever closer to the inevitable at 6-27.
Andrew Arthur was valiant for the Bloods, posting the top score of 18 in the second innings in an attempt to at least avoid an innings defeat; however, he soon fell victim to Henry, as Barooga looked to end it quickly.
The Hawks skipper snared his second of day two, and fourth for the second innings, to remove Tocumwal’s number nine and reduce the home side further to 8-45, still 30 runs shy of forcing Barooga to bat again.
Joshua Wraight (15) and Lachlan Brennan (11) combined to post the biggest partnership of Tocumwal’s innings, adding 18 for the ninth wicket; however, they proved no match for the prowess of Bowde and Henry, falling just two balls apart as the Hawks claimed the outright win by an innings and 12 runs.
Skipper Henry finished with figures of 5-25 from 10 overs as the pick of Barooga’s bowlers in the second innings, edging out Bowden who claimed 4-23, while Jonathon Oliver snared 1-4.
It took Barooga 51 overs in the field to wrap up the outright win, which now has it sitting third on the MVCA A grade ladder, 0.54 points second-placed Nathalia.
It is Cobram the Hawks continue to chase, however, with the Tigers comfortably wrapping up the win over Katunga at Cobram Showgrounds after posting a mammoth total on day one.
With Hugh Hyde smashing a monster century and Adam De Cicco finishing unbeaten on 89, the Tigers posted 5-380 at stumps on day one, and it didn’t take them long to find their first wicket on day two.
Jeremy Baden (1-8) and De Cicco (1-19) struck early, while pressure saw the Tigers snare another scalp via a run out, as Katunga slumped to 3-25.
A fourth-wicket stand of 28 runs saw the visitors advance beyond 50, but Tyron Baden put paid to that, reducing Katunga to 4-53 with his first scalp of the afternoon, opening the floodgates.
In a ridiculous spell, Baden tore through the middle and lower order of the visitors, finishing his afternoon with figures of 6-15, with seven of his 15 overs being maidens, as Katunga lost its final seven wickets for 10 runs to be all out for 63.
Noah Sneddon chipped in with figures of 1-2, as Cobram wrapped up first innings points with a lead of 317 runs.
With 20 overs left in the day Cobram batted on, reaching 5-84 in its second innings; however, the game fizzled out without any realistic prospect of the Tigers earning an outright win.
In the final contest of the round, Katamatite skipper Ewan Wilson snared figures of 7-34 to lead his side to victory over Deniliquin, bowling the Rhinos out for 120 on day two to claim a 48-run victory, having posted 10-168 after batting first on day one.
