Charlton 9/171 def Tod River 10/85

TOD River met Charlton at Centenary Oval on Saturday in a crucial clash to help decipher the final four.

Charlton won the toss and decided to have a bat with Dylan Coleman and Ryan Murphy opening up to face the bowling combination of Hage and Keeley.

Coleman and Murphy got off to a steady start until Murphy fished at one from Keeley and was out caught behind for 11 and the score was 1/19.

Corey Stephens didn't bother the scorers, out to Kerry O'Leary in his second over, and this brought Luke Yancic to the crease.

The Tod River boys knew this was a crucial partnership they needed to break, however Coleman and Yancic both cruised along nicely until a mix up between the two resulted in Coleman's dismissal, run out for 34 and the score was 3/89.

Liam Knight and Yancic then put on a 55-run partnership, with Yancic dominating the scoring as Knight could only contribute 13 of the 55.

Yancic eventually fell to Toby Lynch for a pivotal knock of 67 and this brought about a collapse and suddenly Charlton were 9/165.

The final pair of Goddard and Whillas saw out the final few deliveries to post a competitive 171.

Tod River were happy with keeping the total to 171 as it looked as though they would be chasing a total of in excess of 200.

The Tod River bowlers trundled away with Hage picking up 3/28, Kerry O'Leary 2/50 and the ever improving Toby Lynch 1/25 off 10 overs.

Tod River knew they required a good start, however they got anything but.

Their top six batsman combined for 12 runs and when the score was 5/16 after 10 overs, Tod River needed a miracle.

This was not to come however. The bottom five batsmen put up some resistance with Zac Calderwood making 23, including one magnificent shot off of Raymond Whillas that resulted in a second hand ball being required.

Zac Calderwood and Toby Lynch took the score to 85 before Calderwood spooned a half tracker that should have cleared the fence by 20 metres and Toddies were all out for 85.

Charlton were too good on the day and their bowlers did the damage with Yancic the pick taking 3/17 with the rest of the wickets spread around.

Tod River must now beat Wayback in the last round to have any chance of a finals spot, while Charlton's destiny is now in their own hands - with a win in the last round they will be assured a finals spot.