Winning the toss and electing to bat on its surrogate home deck, things started off poorly for Echuca as Brendan Moyle was on the receiving end of a stellar delivery by Sachin Peiris, trapped lbw off the first ball of the innings.
Curtis Townrow (22) and Archer Carlile (7) managed to navigate through until the sixth over before disaster struck yet again, with both being dismissed in the same over as Townrow was caught by Rathika Rajakumara before Carlile was run out by Nicholas McKenner and Jayden Rosin.
Aidan Young (5) didn’t hang around long before he too was sent packing, being struck on the pads dead-centre by Asantha Singappuli, with Easton Carlile (4) departing the following over.
Anthony Dennis (6) was next on the chopping block as the host struggled to find any sort of consistency at 6-46.
Yet, young gun Ben Henson and captain Charlie Hinks were able to navigate the pressure brought on by the Swans and establish a vital partnership.
Batting through until the 37th over, Henson’s defiant knock of 15 from 79 deliveries came to an end when he was given out lbw at the hands of Peiris.
Declan Hancock (5) hung around while Hinks batted on, but the former couldn’t stay with his captain after being caught by Clayton Watson.
Once Hinks (32) was finally dismissed in the 46th over, Simon Maddox (13) went for broke to round out the innings as the green machine was rolled in the final over for 116.
Peiris led the way for the Swans with the ball, taking 4-31 as AK Gunathilaka (2-34) and Singappuli (2-4) made handy contributions.
With a low total required for victory, Echuca South showed its quality with the bat in the second innings.
Openers Rosin and Watson put on 29 runs for the first wicket, with Kale Edwards making the breakthrough to dismiss the latter for 18.
Rosin and Singappuli put on 74 for the second wicket and essentially iced the game for the visitor, with the ever-dangerous number three being caught by Henson off Maddox’s bowling for 36 in the 21st over.
Rosin and Rajakumara guided the Swans home inside 26 overs as the former raised the bat for a defining unbeaten half-century.
Winning the match in emphatic fashion, Echuca South continued to show why it will be a major threat for the shield this season, while the green machine has struggled to find its feet to start the 2025-26 campaign.
The Swans have earned themselves a bye in round five and will hold steady in the top four, while Echuca should be able to bounce back on Saturday, hosting Tongala at Moon Oval.
The Game
Echuca 116 (Charlie Hinks 32, Curtis Townrow 22, Sachin Peiris 4-31) lt Echuca South 2-117 (Jayden Rosin 50 not out, Asantha Singappuli 36, Simon Maddox 1-8)
