A hat-trick to Lake Albert opening bowler Tom Doig helped the Bulls to an important win over St Michaels at Rawlings Park on Saturday.
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The Bulls all but sealed the Wagga cricket minor premiership with a 25-run win over the Saints.
St Michaels resumed at 1-11 on day two in reply to Lake Albert’s total of 201 but were dismissed for 176.
Doig was the star of the show as his hat-trick sent St Michaels from 5-131 to 8-131 in just minutes.
He had Jack Reynolds caught at slip to start the hat-trick before producing two ripping in-swingers to dismiss Kyle Buckley and Dan Coates lbw in successive deliveries.
Lake Albert captain Alex Smeeth was full of praise for Doig’s efforts.
“It was about 50-50 at one stage and 130 for five and 130 for eight are two very different things in the space of three balls,” Smeeth said.
“It was massive.”
Doig’s hat-trick was pivotal as St Michaels’ tail wagged.
Aiden Ridley was outstanding for the Saints with 88 at the top of the innings.
He and Jared Koetz put 14 on for the ninth wicket before he was dismissed.
Koetz and Fraser Noack then put a further 31 runs for the 10th wicket in a desperate bid to get the Saints over the line.
It was a crucial chase for St Michaels as the loss virtually puts an end to their season.
They face Wagga RSL next week and will virtually need an outright win to leapfrog the Bulldogs into fourth place and finals.
Doig finished with figures of 4-37 off 18 overs, while Isaac Cooper also chimed in with 3-38 off 13.1.