mmg.com.au

Tongala captain Travis Johnstone has said his side will take the opportunity to get some valuable batting practice against Rushworth on Saturday.

It will be the final day’s play of the Kyabram and District Cricket Association home and away season and the last chance for batsmen to spend time at the crease ahead of the finals.

On day one Tongala dismissed Rushworth for 137 and will resume day two at 3-174.

‘‘We’ve already got the win so we’ll just try to keep batting and get some batting practice ahead of the finals,’’ Johnstone said.

‘‘You can bat all you like in the nets but there’s nothing better than time in the middle.’’

All-rounder Matt Ohlsen will resume on 23 not out and will be joined in the middle by Jayden Tucker.

The opener remains unbeaten on 67 and must surely be eyeing off his maiden A-grade century.

A demanding week of cricket at Melbourne Country Week seemed to have little effect on opening bowler Adam Nunn, who collected 6-30 from his 12.5 overs, while fellow association representative Jordan Souter picked up two wickets.

It was not a perfect day for Tongala in the field, with a few chances going begging, but Johnstone was not too concerned about his team’s performance in the field.

‘‘We didn’t bowl quite as well as we could have and we dropped a few catches, we’ll just have to make sure we don’t let that happen come finals time,’’ he said.

‘‘We know we’ll be playing Kyabram in the first week of finals and we know we can bowl them out for a pretty good score, so batting will be the key and hopefully we’ll get some practice in this week.’’

Rushworth captain Jake Perry top scored for his side on day one with 52, and he received good support from Adrian Newbegin, who made 20.

Perry said Saturday’s goal was to enjoy the last day of cricket for the season.

‘‘It’s disappointing we’re not still in the game, but hopefully we can bowl them out and finish the season on a bit of a high,’’ Perry said.

In other matches, Kyabram will chase 9-227 against Stanhope and Cooma will look to bat for as long as possible in reply to Fire Brigade’s colossal day one total of 6-334.