Mount Lofty kept their finals hopes alive after a nail-biting one-run win over Stirling in round 13 action of the Hills Cricket Association (HCA) at Heathfield Oval on Saturday. The game was dominated by the bowlers with no batsman able to make more than 25. The home side batted first and were in deep trouble at 5/25 before Brett Hill (24) and skipper Jordan Neis-Beer (19) added a valuable 39 runs for the sixth wicket. Adam Carthew (15) batted sensibly to help the Redcaps bat out their 40 overs to finish on what appeared an under-par total of 9/96. Four Stirling bowlers took wickets with Jacob Gonzalez taking his best figures of the season with 4/16 from eight overs. His opening bowling partner, Chris Shaw, was the other multiple wicket taker with 2/25 (8). Stirling started their run chase reasonably well as they reached 2/40 with Daniel Gonzalez the standout with 25 from 42 balls (1 x 4’s, 3 x 6’s). Once Gonzalez was dismissed the visitors slipped to 6/59 and Mount Lofty had a ‘sniff’. Skipper Jack Pick was still in and he was joined by Jacob Kemp with this pair adding 19 runs for the seventh wicket before Kemp was dismissed for 10, followed shortly afterwards by Pick for 21 as the Eagles slipped to 9/87, still 10 runs short of victory. With Shaw and Josh Cox at the crease, Stirling edged their way towards victory before Will Healey (2/14) removed Shaw to give the Redcaps an unlikely victory. Aaron Smith (4/20) and Max Hawke (2/12) were the other multiple wicket takers for Mount Lofty.

Aldgate consolidated second spot on the HCA ladder with a comfortable eight-wicket win against Flagstaff Hill at Aldgate Oval. The visitors batted first and got off to a good start through Will Goulding and Matt Emes (20) who added 72 for the first wicket. Emes’ dismissal brought about a mini-collapse as the Falcons slipped to 4/94 with Goulding dismissed for a fine 53 from 72 balls (10 x 4’s). It was Goulding’s second half century of the season. This brought Stephen Wheatland (26 not out) and Max Renfrey (46 not out) together and this pair lifted Flagstaff Hill to a competitive total of 4/165 with an unbroken fifth wicket partnership worth 71 runs. Dale Stephens was the pick of the Aldgate bowlers with figures of 3/21 (8). Aldgate started their run chase slowly and when opener Josh Callaghan was dismissed in the 12th over with the score at 1/21, the Falcons were right on top. Callaghan’s dismissal brought Frank Clements to the crease to join Mitch Thomas (19) and this pair added 71 runs for the second wicket before Thomas was run out. Liam Winskill (23 not out) joined Clements to see the home side to victory in the 38th over. Clements finished on 109 not out from just 75 balls (5 x 4’s, 10 x 6’s). It was Clements’ third ‘A’ grade century for Aldgate and continues his fine season where he has scored 409 runs at an average of 81.80.

Meadows remains undefeated with one round to go after a three-wicket win at Bridgewater. The home side batted first and they got off to a good start to reach 1/91 after handy contributions from Justin Summerill (33), Luke Hoyle (31) and Jackson Hooper (24). From that point on it was all Meadows as the Raiders lost 9/31 to be bowled out for 122 in the 40th over. Five Meadows bowlers took wickets with Aaron Parry (2/8), Rohan Reid (2/18) and Thomas Bevan-Giles (2/22) leading the way. Despite losing opener Luke Tonkin for a duck, Haydn Reid (36) and Anthony Hughes (26) added 51 for the second to put the visitors in a strong position. Max Buckley made a hard hitting 27 from 29 balls (1 x 4, 2 x 6’s) as the winning runs were knocked off in the 38th over. Hoyle (2/12), Summerill (2/20) and Jackson Hooper (2/33) were the multiple wicket takers for the Raiders.

Round 14 (14/3/20) fixtures (home team named first).....

Mt Lofty v Meadows

Stirling v Aldgate

Flagstaff Hill v Kangarilla

Bridgewater has the bye