Diggers rolled as Lightning handles the wet

Northern Brothers Diggers were unable to hold on as wet conditions again impacted the latest round of the Harding-Madsen Shield competition.

Northern Brothers Diggers keeper Cody Walker unsuccessfully appeals in the match against Lockyer Lightning in round five Harding-Madsen Shield cricket at Rockville Oval, Saturday, October 19, 2019. Picture: Kevin Farmer

CRICKET: Wet conditions have again played havoc with the Harding-Madsen Shield competition, as Toowoomba teams battle to gather momentum.

One side that did manage to get out onto the pitch was Northern Brothers Diggers, who had their match at Rockville Oval with Lockyer reduced to 27 overs.

After being sent in to bat with a delayed start time, Diggers again had their innings impacted with another downpour.

They eventually re-took the field, with Brandon Walker (31 runs) and Kris Glass (51*) keeping the runs ticking along.

Glass was assisted by Derek Nitschke (24*) as they finished on 4-133 from their 27 overs.

After a strong start with the ball that had Lockyer reeling at 3-11, Diggers were unable to maintain the pressure, Lockyer's middle order steadied proceedings.

Despite a pair of wickets to Kane Bradford and Kieren Gibbs, the Lightning were able to chase down the target with 13 balls to spare.

"We were a bit disadvantaged by the rain. We weren't too sure how many overs we would face or how hard to go early," Glass said.

"I thought we put a reasonable score on the board, but the team batting second always has the advantage.

"We started to put a few good partnerships together there, but it just wasn't enough.

"It puts us in a bit of an uphill battle to make the finals now after losing two games, so we'll see where we end up."

Diggers play with Lightning

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In other games, Metropolitan-Easts have kept finals well within their sights after downing Brothers at Harristown Park.

Brothers were dismissed for 182 from their first innings, before the Trojans had a revised total of 152 from 35 overs.

They did so with relative ease, dropping just three wickets as Darren Koch's 52 got them home with five overs remaining.

Southern Districts didn't have as much luck on their visit to Ipswich, falling by 108 runs to a strong Central Districts outfit.

Elijah McRae and Harry Meiklejohn both picked up three wickets.

The match between Highfields-Railways and Western Districts was abandoned, as was University's encounter with South West.

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