On the second day of a two-day match, the Rhinos will look to defend their total of 9-282 after 80 overs batting first.
Cobram will also have the full innings to chase the Rhinos’ score.
Cobram struggled with the bat on the first day in their one previous two-day match this season, against fourth-placed Katamatite, scoring 63 all out off 44 overs. It was chased down by Katamatite.
In their second innings, Cobram made 4-160 in vain, but they will be keen to show their batting strength tomorrow.
And while the Cobram side are slightly out of form in the two-day format, the reigning premiers will count themselves a chance.
But the Deni Rhinos’ bowling lineup is formidable, as shown in their previous two-day match.
Deni bowled Nathalia for 204 in the first innings and had them 5-86 in the second innings.
The Rhinos have four bowlers with double figure wickets - Matt Taylor (24 wickets), Andrew Hogan (18 wickets), Brodie Bennett (16 wickets) and Lachlan Holloway (13 wickets), all with an average below 16 - as well as Jack Tonta with seven wickets at an average of 9.14 from three matches.
Cobram’s innings should see a cracking match-up between bat and ball, with both teams in finals contention and this being the penultimate match before the finals.
In other games this round, fifth placed Barooga is a chance to make finals well positioned after the first day away scoring 313 against second-placed Nathalia including an innings of 206 from 228 balls from Barooga captain and coach Riyaad Henry.
Fourth-placed Katamatite are at home chasing Berrigan’s first innings total of 169, 0-10 after six overs in reply.
In Finley, the Cats are hosting Tocumwal in a well-balanced game, with Finley scoring 190 in their first innings and Tocumwal 1-18 in reply after eight overs.
C-grade
Scheduled to play a Sunday game this weekend, the C-grade Rhinos are also facing Cobram.
The game is set to be played in Cobram from 1pm.
The match-up sees the competition’s top-two sides face-off against each other, with the Rhinos one win ahead of Cobram on the ladder.
This is partially due to the Cobram against Strathmerton and Nathalia against Katamatite matches being abandoned due to the heat last Saturday.
Tocumwal beat Katunga in the one game played last week, with Tocumwal electing to bat first and scoring 175 and then keeping Katunga to a score of 8-107.
The Rhinos match-up with Cobram promises to be an exciting clash in a rematch of last year’s MVCA C-grade grand final.
Juniors
In the MVCA under-15s, the Deni Rhinos started their two-day match against Finley on Saturday.
The Rhinos batted for 30 of their allotted 40 overs, with the team reaching a total of 81.
Henry Pisasale top-scored with 31 runs off 44 balls, and Chance Bennett also reached double figures with 17 runs off 54 balls.
Finley started their chase, scoring 0-28 in five overs.
The young Rhinos will do their best to make the next 53 runs difficult to score to give themselves a chance of a win.
Both under-13s Rhinos sides remain top of the ladder, with Rhinos Red playing Barooga away and Rhinos White in Finley chasing Katamatite’s total of 6-52 off 20 overs to win by nine wickets 1-53 after 12 overs.
The under-13s Rhinos Red were expected to continue their season with a home game against Finley last night.
At the time of going to print, a decision on whether the heat rule would be implemented was not known.
Rhinos White will play away to Barooga tonight, weather permitting.
