Disappointing losses for Sutherland and St George have left their NSW Premier Cricket finals hopes in danger after a deflating Australia Day round on Saturday.
Both sides went into the one-day, round 11 fixtures needing victory to keep up the pace with the top six.
At Pratten Park, a superb individual performance from Tom Doyle couldn’t help Sutherland as they suffered a five-run loss to Western Suburbs.
Wests won the toss and elected to bat, with Austin Waugh again proving his talent in the field as he ran out both the hosts’ openers.
Half centuries to Adrian Isherwood (55) and Joel Abraham (53) helped Wests stumble to 9-252 at the end of their 50 overs.
Doyle was the best with the ball for Sutherland taking 3-33 from his 10 overs.
In reply, Doyle made 100 from just 67 balls to provide the bulk of Sutherland’s run chase.
Batting at No.4, Doyle smashed seven fours and eight sixes to have the Sharks in sight of victory.
Sutherland appeared to be almost cruising at 4-212 before losing Waugh (17) and Luke Hawksworth (4) after adding only five runs.
The Sharks lost their last three wickets for eight runs to eventually be bowled out for 247 with three balls remaining in their innings as Wests pulled off a great escape.
The defeat sees Sutherland slump to 12th place on the table, nine points behind sixth-placed Bankstown.
The Sharks will look to bounce back when they host finals-bound Parramatta at Glenn McGrath Oval, Caringbah this weekend in a Saturday-Sunday two-day clash in round 12.
At Chatswood Oval, a poor showing with the bat saw St George suffer a heavy bonus point defeat to Gordon.
Gordon made 8-295 from their 50 overs after being sent in to bat by Saints captain Nick Stapleton.
Tom Ortiz was the best with the ball for St George taking 5-69 from his 10 overs.
Saints made a decent start to their run chase, with Stapleton and Luke Bartier putting on 53 for the first wicket.
Bartier fell for 14, which saw Stapleton continue on with Blake Macdonald as they pushed the score to 95.
But when Macdonald (17) fell, it triggered a dismal collapse that saw St George lose their remaining nine wickets for just 34 runs as they were bowled out for 129.
Stapleton played a lone hand for Saints, with the young skipper making 70 before he was dismissed.
Saints return to action when they host strugglers Northern District in a must-win clash at Hurstville Oval this weekend, though they are likely to again be without Kurtis Patterson who made his Test debut for Australia against Sri Lanka.
