Towns skipper Liam Sweeney snares a hat-trick on way to five-wicket haul in maiden victory this season

Towns skipper Liam Sweeney led from the front with a stellar performance to hand his side their maiden victory in the Upper Great Southern Cricket Association this season. Sweeney snared a hat-trick on his way to a five-wicket haul as they defeated Williams by seven runs at Clayton Road Oval in round six on Saturday. Towns were winless in their first four matches, but on the back of Sweeney’s brilliance had a reason to celebrate against a Williams outfit that was looking for a fourth straight win. A half-century to Perrin Quartermaine helped Towns post 6-190 batting first before Sweeney did the damage with the ball, restricting Williams to 8-183 in reply. Williams got off to a strong start in the run chase as Kim Rintoul and Robert Rose put on 61 for the opening partnership before Rose was caught for 28. Rodney Ford came to the crease and he took control of the innings despite wickets falling around him. Rintoul was bowled for 37 but Ford kept the run rate ticking over as Williams made their way to 2-108. However, Sweeney stepped up and swung the game back in the balance with his hat-trick. Sweeney crashed into Michael Cowcher’s stumps before doing exactly the same to Toby Lavender the very next ball and then Roger Gillett was trapped in front to complete the hat-trick as Williams fell to 5-108. Brendon Hardie joined Ford at the crease and they took their side towards victory with a superb 75-run partnership. Heading into the last over, Williams needed eight runs to win but the damaging Ford was removed with the second ball, caught at deep extra cover for 76, before Hardie followed him with the next delivery out for 22, giving Sweeney another hat-trick opportunity. He wasn’t able to complete his second hat-trick of the game but the final over was a double wicket maiden plus a run out as Towns finished thrilling winners. Sweeney returned superb figures of 5-31 from nine overs. Earlier, Quartermaine made 64 at the top of the order for Towns and shared in a 89-run stand with Nick Corner. They were removed in quick succession, with Corner caught for 36, but Ben McMillian provided some vital late runs by posting 38. Steven Ford was the pick of the bowlers for Williams with 3-30. In the other A-grade match, Cuballing finished tense two-run winners over reigning premiers Pingelly-Noonebin to notch their third win of the season. Opener Blair Forrest smacked an unbeaten 75 while Joe Dowling (38) and Bevan George (32) were strong support acts as Cuballing posted 6-195 batting first. Callum Giles-Morton took 2-38 for Pingelly-Noonebin. After a strong chase, Pingelly-Noonebin needed 16 to win off the final over to win. Grady Francis bowled Kacey Bear before Henry Blechynden hit a single to get set batter Mitchell Wiles on strike. Francis bowled a dot to Wiles but he responded with back-to-back sixes to leave Pingelly-Noonebin needing three runs from the last ball. However Wiles was run out for 32 to hand Cuballing a thrilling win. Dylan Kirk made 45 at the top of the order and Wiles made 32 off 16 balls but his side fell narrowly short, posting 9-193. Caleb Dewing returned figures of 2-7 for Cuballing.