Arron Quartermaine smashes unbeaten ton in losing affair, Cuballing and Towns post vital wins

After more than a month off, Upper Great Southern Cricket Association returned on Saturday and Cuballing made the first big move in the second half of the season. Cuballing moved level on points with ladder leaders Lake Grace after notching their sixth win of the season in round 10. Lake Grace lost to Towns by six wickets, meaning Cuballing’s win over Williams catapulted them to 24 points with four rounds of the regular season remaining. Cuballing successfully chased down Williams’ total in Williams to prevail by five wickets. Williams posted 7-132 batting first but it wasn’t enough as Cuballing passed the total five wickets down in just 31 overs. Steven Ford claimed the first two wickets for Williams in the run chase as Cuballing fell to 3-39 soon after. However Joe Dowling and Bevan George steadied the ship for their side with a 55-run partnership to steer Cuballing towards triple figures. George was removed for a run-a-ball 39 and then Dowling was caught for 33 with his side 5-108. Grady Francis sealed the win for Cuballing however with an unbeaten 20 while Rhett Ballard made seven not out as Cuballing posted 5-133. Ford finished with 3-34 off 10 overs for Williams. Earlier, Williams were restricted to under 150 with Francis dominating with the ball. Francis finished with the outstanding figures of 3-6 off 10 overs, including six maidens. Rodney Ford made 22 for Williams and Ryan Wilkie finished unbeaten on 22 but they fell to 7-90 after an early collapse. Towns kept their finals hopes alive after notching back-to-back victories, moving within one game of fourth spot. Facing Lake Grace at Clayton Road Oval, Towns made light work of their opponent’s total, finishing six-wicket winners. Nick Corner and Perrin Quartermaine led the way with the bat as Towns finished on 4-119 from 33.1 overs. Corner finished unbeaten on 44 and Quartermaine added 32 at the top of the order while Aidan Liddelow was the only multiple wicket taker for Lake Grace with 2-23. Lake Grace posted 7-118 batting first, with Kalan Joyce making 52 not out and Karl Fleay (23) and Shaye Bowron (22) making late contributions but it wasn’t enough. Scott Fowler took 2-1 from three overs for Towns. Wandering sit outright third after a 34-run win over Harrismith at Wandering on Sunday. Jacob Schorer made 87 and Carl Garrick added 50 as Wandering posted 8-208 batting first despite Caen Taylor taking 4-35 and Jamie Miller snaring 2-49. In reply, Harrismith could manage only 9-174 despite an unbeaten century from Arron Quartermaine. Quartermaine made 100 off 118 balls, which included seven fours and four sixes, but he lacked support. Lewis Parsons took 5-66 and Byran Hardie snared 2-26.