Almost 500 runs combined in Yarraville Club’s win over Haig Fawkner

There was plenty of heat in Yarraville Club’s win over VTCA premiership rival Haig Fawkner on Saturday and it wasn’t the weather.

Justin Bramble has been in excellent form for Yarraville Club. Picture: George Sal

There was hot weather and hot banter as Yarraville Club took down VTCA premiership rival Haig Fawkner on Saturday.

With plenty on the line neither team took a backward step as a fiery top-four clash lived up to the billing at Mutton Reserve.

In a match that produced almost 500 runs, Yarraville Club claimed a four-wicket win, chasing down Haig’s sizeable 9-232 with four overs to spare.

Trent Lawford produced a match-winning 72 from 51 balls after Justin Bramble had gotten Clubbers off to a fast start with 64 from 56 delivers.

Lawford clubbed six sixes and a trio of boundaries while Bramble smashed four sixes and six fours before Luke Destito (12 not out) and Adam Contessa (23 not out) finished the job.

Trent Lawford bowling for Yarraville Club.

After a season-high 85 last week, Yarraville Club captain-coach Mitch Johnstone says Bramble is starting to hit top form – a warning to rivals.

“Justin’s started to click, he had a tough run before Christmas and he hadn’t played much cricket, so it’s taken four or five games to get going,” he said.

“Since we’ve returned to training he’s been hitting the ball beautifully and he’s decision-making is much better.

“Trent slid down the order a little bit, he was fatigued after bowling, so we held him back and that seemed to work quite well.

“We’ve got those two who can really hit the ball and the rest of us like to nudge, nick and nurdle the ball.

“We think we’ve got good flexibility in our batting, we’re still missing Sanga (Sangaran Nandhalal), so how we replace him will be up to the likes of myself, Luke Destito, Andrew (Cullen) and Adam Contessa is back.”

In a major blow to Clubbers’ premiership hopes, Nandhalal could miss the rest of the season after suffering a partial ACL tear.

However, the return of Paxino Medallist and premiership hero Adam Contessa from Royal Park Brunswick before Christmas has boosted Yarraville Club.

Yarraville Club captain-coach Mitch Johnstone. Picture: George Sal

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Haig Fawkner openers Jaspreet Bhatti (65) and Shakeel Ahmad (43) put on an 111-run opening stand to put the home team on top.

Yet Yarraville Club hit back late and after Viraj Lakshitha (43) fell at 5-219 Haig lost 4-13.

Johnstone removed both Bhatti – a former Clubbers player – and Ahmad to finish with 2-50 while Andrew Cullen claimed 2-26.

Johnstone said the improved bowling gave his team the momentum heading into the run chase.

“Jaspreet played at Yarraville Club previously, mind you before my time, he’s a bit agricultural but it worked for him,” Johnstone said.

“They were flying, about 80 off 10 (overs), and we were under the pump.

“We knew if we could keep creating pressure those guys would come to us eventually, so we reined it in pretty well.

“Overall it was a good effort to claw it back and then we batted beautifully.

“We felt like we had some momentum after the last six or seven overs when it looked like we’d be chasing 260 – so we shaved off 25-30 runs there.

“We lost a similar game against Aberfeldie before Christmas and there were a few things we identified there to tidy up and we did that (on Saturday), which shows the growth of the team.”

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The win lifts Clubbers to outright second on the Senior Division ladder behind only undefeated Aberfeldie.

Abers continued their remarkable season with a 60-run win over Craigieburn thanks to Connor West’s maiden century.

Elsewhere, Keilor were too good for Doutta Stars, winning by 112 runs, St Albans chased down Sunshine United with seven wickets to spare and Westmeadows held off Druids by 14 runs.

The Warriors host Yarraville Club on Saturday in another critical clash.