Once again inspired by the ever-reliable Luke Nolan with the bat and dominant bowling spells from Nathan Fothergill and Josh Sanderson, the Lakers showed how dangerous they can be at full strength in a performance that would have without doubt had other finals contenders quaking in their boots.
Nagambie captain Nolan said despite a few little speed bumps, he was proud to see his side pull through and claim a crucial victory.
“It was a pretty good win, to get two wins after Christmas is fantastic and puts us back in contention,” Nolan said.
“We still aren’t playing our best cricket, but to be able to still win is a positive and gives us a lot of confidence that we are right there with the best teams.”
Much like he has been all season, Nolan was the key to success for the Lakers with bat in hand, making a third straight half-century from the top of the order to build a perfect platform for his side.
An innings which matched incredible patience with elegant stroke play, Nolan played the anchor to perfection to finish with 56 off 115, balls while Tyrone Muir offered great support adding 29 of his own in what ended up being an 86-run stand.
Seemingly destined for 200-plus, Gino Saracino’s bowlers would show great character to work their way back into the contest, as Felix Odell broke the key partnership and proceeded to rip through the middle order with four crucial wickets.
Returning to their pre-Christmas form, the Lakers remarkably lost their last eight wickets for 40 runs to have the game evenly poised at the halfway mark with 163 on the board.
Needing early wickets to wrestle the momentum back in its favour, Nagambie’s bowlers were brilliant from the get-go with Fothergill and Mark Nolan putting the clamps on Old Students’ top order in a scintillating spell of new ball bowling.
Fothergill (4-22) would be the one to cash in, ripping through the visitors’ top order to have them in a world of pain at 5-51.
Odell did his best to replicate his first innings heroics, playing with freedom and positivity to get to 32 off 37 deliveries.
But the counterpunch would come to no avail, as Sanderson (4-23) came into the attack and quickly wrapped up the tail to finish the Old Students’ innings on 95.
Nolan said he was incredibly proud of how the bowlers went about it and was excited to see what his side could produce in the run to finals.
“We bowled and fielded very well, we have our best bowling on the park at the moment and are making it hard for opposition teams to score on us with guys like Nathan (Fothergill) and Josh (Sanderson) hitting top form,” he said.
“At Christmas we weren’t in an ideal situation, so it is good to get back in the six with some great post-break form and we will look to continue to build momentum starting with a big game with Central Park next week.”
THE GAME
Nagambie 163 (Luke Nolan 56, Tyrone Muir 29, Felix Odell 4-35) d Old Students 95 (Felix Odell 32, Nathan Fothergill 4-22, Josh Sanderson 4-23)
STAR PLAYER
Nathan Fothergill (Nagambie): After a stunning late-order collapse had all the momentum with Old Students at the innings change, Fothergill quickly got the Lakers back on top with a scintillating spell of new ball bowling. Ripping through the top order with four crucial scalps, Fothergill bowled with excellent pace and accuracy in a performance that inspired the Lakers to a crushing 68-run win.
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