The Blues need only 21 runs to secure a first innings lead over Mowbray but hold only two wickets and face the prospect of an impending downpour limiting their time at the crease.

Not-out all-rounder Alex Saunders looms as the key player for Riverside and the key wicket for Mowbray, with Lyndon Stubbs still at the wicket and Jesse Homan to come.

“Alex has probably batted the most time this year and Stubbsy is really handy with the bat so we’re really confident with those two in at the crease,” Blues captain Tom Garwood said.

“They’re both really experienced players so there’s not a lot I need to tell them - they know their own game and where to score runs.

“Then with Jesse coming in next he just hangs around so we’re pretty confident the boys can get the 20 runs.” 

The Eagles will be without their two strike bowlers Justin Reeves and Jarrod Freeman but will take plenty of heart from Callum Peck and Jono Jones’ combined seven-wicket haul last weekend. 

“We’ll be looking for those goes to repeat how they were able to bowl to the top order of Riverside last week,” skipper John Le Fevre said.  

“Hopefully we’ll get a chance at either team getting a result because that could be done in a five-over spell, so hopefully we’ll have a chance to get out there.”

LAUNCESTON would go into its final round bye marginally ahead of opponent Westbury should their game be rained off, but sharing the points holds little appeal for Lions captain Alistair Taylor.

Not-out batsmen Zac Oldenhof and Matthew Woods will lead a quest to find 88 runs should play be resumed, and Taylor is confident his side won’t need too many overs to accrue them.

“We’ve got two blokes in at the moment who normally score at a run a ball anyway, so if they bat for a session we might have the runs,” Taylor said.

“The points are that tight that we don’t really want a washout, we want to win to cement (second) spot and breathe easy.

Richard Howe’s Shamrocks need six wickets to jump ahead of the Lions with a match to come.

Howe said his side was marginally behind in the match, but could soon turn things around with early wickets. 

“Zac’s probably going to hold the key for those guys so we’ll be trying to get him early if possible and see how we go from there,” he said.

“Every run they get is like gold so we’ve got to stop as many boundary balls as we can and restrict them from scoring freely.”