Numurkah holds off Katandra for fourth straight Haisman Shield win

Though Brady Black rode the wave through a huge chunk of the day, soaking up more than a third of the afternoon’s play off his own bat, the runs often threatened not to come.

Katandra’s most sustained pressure of the day came through a 34-run endeavour between Black and Sam Wright before the sixth wicket fell, but the batting depth did not come to the fore.

Mitch Grandell and Ragu Aravinthan were huge parts of the reason why, with nine of the Eagles’ poles falling to the spin duo.

This had been prophesied by Numurkah captain Tim Arnel last week, after his side failed to properly combat Andrew Riordan on his way to a five-for.

A wicket proposed to be heavily spin-oriented proved arguably even more so this week and, with four wins on the bounce, the Blues are all but mathematically assured a finals place.

The only way Arnel’s men would miss out from here is with defeat to Central Park-St Brendan’s, plus Katandra defeating Nagambie and Kyabram claiming two innings worth of points over Karramomus.

As for Katandra, there could arguably not be a worse time to fall out of form with two straight losses and far more danger of missing a finals berth entirely if things go wrong in the next fortnight.

For now, though, Arnel is overjoyed with the run of form his side has embarked on.

“It was a hard-fought game and a really close battle,” Arnel said.

“We held our nerve towards the end and we always seemed to have an advantage in the wicket column.

“A little bit of luck went our way, but we’re playing really good team cricket and when one guy doesn’t perform as best he can the next guy steps right up.”

Obviously Arnel was inclined to reserve some praise for the extremely potent spin cycle Katandra was put in.

“I said to the boys that good players stand up when it’s their turn and Mitch and Ragu did just that,” Arnel said.

“Mitch has had a really good year with the ball and Ragu is an exceptional player, so I couldn’t be prouder.

“It was a good team effort, but particularly from the two spinners who bowled a lot of overs.”

A potential finals preview looms over the coming fortnight with Central Park — which has plenty on its plate in its own right — awaiting in a season-closing home fixture.

“We’re playing good cricket and looking forward to taking on Central Park and getting a home final,” Arnel said.

“The team really deserves the results we’re getting and, obviously, it’s a long way to go, but we’re looking forward to doing as much damage as we possibly can.

“We know it’s going to be a tough assignment, but I back my boys all day.”