In a weekend of high scores and sterling individual efforts, Rugby's Ben Wheeler stood tall with the best after a heroic effort to chase down the Newtown Tigers fell just short on Saturday.
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While his side were beaten by a single run in their attempt to down the Tigers, there was plenty of praise going around for Wheeler's persistent and dogged effort in the third spot on the batting roster, crossing a century and leaving on 109 after being bowled by Tigers' standout Lee Price.
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The Tigers fired early with Price (58) and Dan Holland (38) finding a stable start to the batting line-up, before being caught out by Nathan Munro and Darcy Chewings.
Aiden Bennewith helped out with the ball, and took Mat Skinner's wicket shortly after before adding to his total by catching Steve Skinner on 30 right after.
While the runs dried up soon after for the Tigers, with the tail ending in single digits, the back half was far less favourable to Rugby, with both Ambler and Ben Rosenbaum going out for a duck following Wheeler's dismissal.
Lee Price took four wickets for 33 runs in the hard-fought battle, with just one wide standing against him, while Aiden Bennewith took three wickets across his eight overs of bowling.
The Tigers will have a chance to build momentum against the South Dubbo Hornets in round 3, as the Hornets look to bounce back after a crushing loss to a rejuvenated Macquarie, while Rugby will look to pick up a win by knocking off last year's premiers coming off the back of their first loss in some time.