Having suffered its first defeat of its premiership defence last week in a grand final rematch against Deniliquin, Cobram faced a trip to Tocumwal on Saturday, and from the first ball, the Tigers could smell blood.
Winning the toss and electing to bowl, Cobram were on song from the opening over, with Adam DeCicco delivering a maiden to start, which Jeremy Baden backed up in the second over of the contest with a maiden of his own to heap the pressure on.
A breakthrough was seemingly close, and just three balls into DeCicco’s second over it came, the Tigers spearhead bowling Bloods opener Hayden White with the scoreboard still reading 0 runs.
The home side was under constant pressure from the Tigers bowlers, who proved unrelenting, and while it took another eight overs to find the second wicket, Cobram’s tight line and length made scoring extremely difficult, with Tocumwal finding itself two wickets down with eight runs on the board.
By the 15th over, Bodey Webb snared Cobram’s third scalp, leaving the Bloods down 3-18 and without its top three batsmen, and it looked as though the Tigers would wrap up the innings in quick fashion.
But Tocumwal skipper Reilly Rennick defied the Tigers pace attack, combining well with Andrew Lean to tick the scoreboard over, slowing the momentum of the visitors.
The two added 27 runs together in a six-over stand, however it proved futile, as Lean would soon find himself back in the sheds for 19, and Tocumwal slumped to 4-45, as Cobram continued to race through the top order.
By the time the Tigers claimed the fifth wicket to have the Bloods 5-76, Tocumwal had no fight left with the bat, and Cobram took full advantage, ripping through the tail to remove the final six wickets for 51 runs, restricting the home side to 10-127.
It was a dominant team display by the visitors, with DeCicco (3-18) and Tyron Baden (3-24) each picking up three wickets, while Jeremy Baden (1-19), Webb (1-18), Jack Opray (1-18) and Noah Sneddon (1-30) all snared one each.
The Tigers needed 128 for victory, and if their performance with the ball was dominant, then Daniel Ellis’ turn with the willow was devastating.
In a scintillating knock, Ellis blasted a ridiculous 106 not-out from 82 deliveries, with 15 fours and three sixes to his name, while hitting the winning runs with a maximum.
In doing so, Ellis belted 83 per cent of his side’s total, the Tigers reaching 128 for the loss of just one wicket, that being Webb who contributed 16, while only needing 21 overs to chase down the required runs in an act that should send shivers down the rest of the competition’s spines.
In other round five results, Barooga secured a four-wicket win over Katamatite at Barooga Recreation Reserve, with skipper Riyaad Henry once again leading the way with bat and ball.
Losing the toss and being asked to bowl, the Hawks bowled the Tigers out for 126 runs, with Henry claiming team-best figures of 4-22, well supported by Riley Gow, who snared 3-16 from nine overs, while Riley Thompson finished unbeaten on 23 as the pick of Katamatite’s batsmen.
It would be Henry with the bat too for Barooga, with the skipper belting 48 at number three to set up a successful chase, which was finished off by Crue Lucas (22) and Jonathon Oliver (20 not-out) despite a few wobbles in the middle order, sealing a four-wicket win and a move inside the top four on the ladder.
The remaining contest saw Katunga chase down 142 for victory against Nathalia to clinch a four-wicket win in what was a fairly even contest.
Batting first, Nathalia was bowled out for 141 after 43.1 overs, with opener Zander Quinn posting 40 and skipper Brenton Campbell making 28, while Hugh Duncan led the Katunga bowling attack with 3-17.
Campbell and Scotty Morris were valiant with the ball for Nathalia, claiming figures of 3-18 and 2-33 respectively, but ultimately a target of 142 was not big enough to defend, as Katunga, led by Brayden Beaton (34) and Nash Siermans (32 not-out), reached 6-145 with five overs to spare, clinching a maiden win this season.
