One of the competition's premier spinners, Allansford-Panmure's Rommel Shahzad showed he is more than capable with the bat on the final day of Saturday's two-day fixtures.
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The Canadian tweaker, who took 4-56 earlier in the game, combined with his fellow tail-enders to rescue the ladder-leading Gators from an upset first-innings loss against Brierly-Christ Church.
He struck 67 at number 10, his first Warrnambool and District cricket half century, ensuring his side surpassed the Bulls' first-innings total of 163 and built an imposing lead.
"It was an amazing game," Shahzad told The Standard.
"I was due for one, so I had to bring it home."
At 8-107 things were looking dire for the Gators before number-nine Paddy Mahony (47) and Shahzad saw the side to a first-innings victory with a 49-run stand.
When Mahony was dismissed, Brandon Bant (27 not out) then combined with Shahzad for a monster 88-run partnership before the latter was dismissed.
The Bulls finished 2-23 in their second innings before the game concluded.
Shahzad, who made his List A debut for Canada in 2022, said he and Mahony were determined to score the winning runs.
"The best thing was, him and I were communicating very, very well," he said.
"Every over we had something to say to each other just to make sure that we batted out the entire day and brought our team over the line, knowing that the table is pretty tight and a loss could put us down on the table."
The off-spinner said he and Bant, with no deficit to worry about, were focused on enjoying themselves in the middle.
Shahzad, who has 24 wickets to his name across all forms for the Gators this season, believed his classy knock would grow his confidence with the bat.
"Especially with the season almost coming to a close, with only about three, four games remaining, definitely puts me in a good mood as well that I'm able to help the team out wherever is needed," he said.
"If it's not with the ball in hand, I definitely can do the job with the bat."
In the other fixtures, Port Fairy recorded a first-innings win against Dennington, as did Nestles over Russell's Creek and North Warrnambool Eels over Mortlake.
Merrivale also scored a comfortable first-innings triumph against Northern Raiders while West Warrnambool's victory against Wesley Yambuk Titans was the only outright win of the round.
Matt Hughes
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
