Katamatite’s Ash Saunders wowed onlookers with his powerful big hitting for the second time this Murray Valley Cricket Association season.
The gun batter blasted a glorious century to help steer his A-grade outfit to a 123-run victory over Katunga in round 11 action.
The win helps cement Katamatite in second spot on the ladder.
Saunders crunched a destructive 103-run knock, which consisted of 10 boundaries and four sixes.
It was the talented big-hitter’s second century of the season.
Katamatite coach Brayden Beaton spoke highly of his star batter’s performance.
“That was Ash’s second ton of the year and it was great viewing. Once he got going he was very hard to stop,” he said.
“He was on 30 off 30 balls and then he reached 100 on the 71st delivery. He can take the game away from you in an instant. He went from 70 to 90 off one over.
“It was pretty awesome to witness.”
Teammate Damian Cupido played the perfect support role in the innings with a classy 54-run knock.
The duo’s efforts helped Katamatite to 5-242 from 45 overs.
“Our openers gave us a really good platform for the rest of the innings,” Beaton said.
“Damian and Ash really compliment each other. Damian is more of your orthodox batter; he pushes the singles and rotates the strike.”
Katamatite’s opening quicks were let loose on Katunga’s batters.
Left-arm pacer Jimmy Irvine was on fire with an impressive 5-33 effort, while Matt Hodge (4-40) provided a strong contribution.
Katunga was dismissed all out for 119.
“Jimmy was pretty fired up and got some good reward for effort,” Beaton said.
“Matt got another good haul (of wickets) and he’s really loved having Jimmy at the other end and working alongside him.”
Beaton said his outfit was looking forward to finishing off the final three games of the season on a high.
In the other A-grade contests, Cobram strolled to a nine-wicket triumph over Tocumwal at the Cobram Showgrounds.
The Tigers made light work of Tocumwal’s 126-run target, with the ladder-leaders finishing their run-chase on 1-129 from 17.3 overs.
Talented all-rounder Tyron Baden went berserk with a flashy unbeaten 70, while skipper Adam De Cicco remained 39 not out.
Baden had a day out and finished with 2-13 earlier in the match.
Lastly, Nathalia pulled off a shock upset win over Deniliquin.
Nathalia fell over the line by four wickets and moved to equal points on the ladder with fourth-placed Barooga.
The Hawks had the week off due to the bye.