Competition leaders Dalkeith took on cellar dwellers the Aussie Bulls at Number 2 on Saturday  with all eyes on a much-matured Dalkeith to take advantage of the slow outfield and firm their position atop the ladder. 

Bulls’ skipper Finlay won a rare toss and logically elected to bat. Bulls’ openers Dave Rose and Toby Miles were well contained for the first 10 thanks to good line and length bowling from Matt Hanlon and a rejuvenated Bon Franklin. 

It was old hand Brad MacDougall however who caused the Bulls’ innings to experience turbulence. 

He bowled Rose and got form batsman Stu Barton in the same over, whilst Cameron Bourke’s pace was too much for the Bulls’ middle order. 

At drinks the Bulls were behind the eight ball at 4-61. Ron Finlay came out firing after drinks as he and Miles put on 70 for the sixth wicket. Hard running between the wickets saw Miles reach his century on the second last ball of the innings and the Bulls to 8-196 off their allocated 40 overs; a good score it was deemed. 

Dalkeith started off their innings in swashbuckling style  with openers Hanlon and Bourke dispatching any short bowling to the leg side boundary. 

New Bulls recruit Neil Stewart, bowling intelligent left arm in-swing, copped much of the early punishment but he eventually got his man, Bourke, caught behind for 20-odd. 

Brad MacDougall and Hanlon put on 50 for the second wicket but it was all but an appetiser for what was about to occur. Mart Barton, perpetually asking for a bowl, was finally granted his wish and the Bulls never looked back. 

Barton, in a spell of ferocious medium pace bowling, tore through the Dalkeith middle and lower order removing all doubts on both the legitimacy of his bowling and the outcome of the match. 

He finished with 7-18, an incredible spell that was two inches off including a hat-trick. Dalkeith lost all hope with the removal of Hanlon and were eventually bowled out for 132. 

It was a most satisfying win for the Bulls, made all the more sweeter from the knowledge that Dave Rose, normally the team’s go-to man, contributed little to the cause, aside from dropping Matt Hanlon early in his innings. 

Aussie Bulls 8-196 (Miles 100*, Finlay 47, Bourke 3-33, B MacDougall 2-28) bt Dalkeith 132 (Hanlon 54, M Barton 7-18)