Merrifield Panthers are continuing on their merry way in the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association George Luscombe Shield.

Last season’s premiers, the Panthers sit undefeated after nine rounds and have gone a long way to secure their finals spot already.

The side sits 19 points clear of second.

Panthers president and first XI captain Harmandeep Bhathal said they were pretty happy with how things were going across the whole club.

“We’re pretty happy but it’s pretty hectic at this time of year with a lot of senior and junior sides,” he said.

“I think the first three sides won on Saturday and we have four senior sides in the race for finals.

“We should at least get two flags this year, that’s the aim and hopefully there will be more.”

In the Luscombe Shield, the Darebin Chargers made 173 on day one of the match with Sukhjinder Singh taking three wickets for the Panthers.

The Panthers made 343 across the two days with Adnan Khan (78) and Bhathal (74) both making half centuries to guide their side to a win.

Despite the match being won, the Chargers wanted to bat again and get some batting practice in.

They finished 6-206.

“They wanted to take the game until the end of the day,” Bhathal said. “It was a good game and they are a good side.

“We already have enough points so we never thought about going for an outright.”

Surinder Brar and Ran Shamsher Singh Sidhu took two wickets each for the Panthers in the second innings.

Bhathal said they tried a few different things with the ball with the game already decided as they started to look ahead to finals.

He said the next few weeks they would look to balance the side as they look forward to the pointy end of the year.

“We’re excited,” he said. “Hopefully we can do what we did last year.”

Elsewhere, Gladstone Park got the job done against the Preston Druids.

The Druids were bowled out for 182 on day one.

The Burras had no issues getting the runs, finishing 3-185 off 27 overs.

Gurpreet Mohain top scored with 45 not out.

The Burras sit fourth on the ladder after nine rounds.

In the Vic Kyte Shield, Lalor Warriors lost to Strathmore Heights.

The Warriors made 9-186 in their first innings with Strathmore Heights making 193 in reply.

The Warriors were 5-285 in the second innings when the game ended.

Lalor sits third on the ladder behind Merrifield and Donnybrook.

Northern

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