Premiers for the last four seasons, South had an early round two slip-up against Riverside but have been clinical since then, maintaining an unbeaten streak in their last six games.

Saturday's contest wasn't all smooth sailing however, losing Caitlin Webster, Meg Radford and Belinda Wegman early before Deb Reynolds (37), Amy Duggan (35) and new recruit Narine Maurangi (24 not out) steadied the ship through the middle overs and saw the reigning premiers to 7-137 off their 20 overs.

Former South all-rounder Stacey Norton-Smith was a thorn in their side with the ball, claiming 3-23 while dangerous opening partner Victoria Geale took 2-23.

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With Lisa Battle claiming Norton-Smith early, the Lions struggled to get their chase off the ground as only Geale (13), Charlotte Layton and captain Lynn Hendley (both 11) made double figures while their team made 9-53 off 20 overs.

In-form Greater Northern Raiders off-spinner, Ellie Mathews, who has taken seven wickets at an average of 4.57 in Cricket North competition, once again led the way with the ball, taking 4-14 to dismantle last year's grand finalists, while Radford claimed 1-2.

Mowbray found themselves in trouble early with the bat, but got out of the hole courtesy of a strong fourth-wicket partnership to claim a 27-run win.

Eagles duo Dana Lester (44 not out off 52 balls) and Georgia Brain (42 off 49) worked their way into the innings with the latter collecting a career-high score as they worked their way to an 80-run partnership after seeing their team reeling at 3-25.

Joining Lester at the crease in the fifth over, Brain was dismissed on the third-last ball of the innings by Elyse Page as the Riverside bowling department of Page, Kate Sherriff, Sara Wilkin and Maddison Hill shared the wickets to have them 4-109.

Chasing, the Blues struggled to match Mowbray's run-rate from the outset, with a steady stream of wickets along the way not helping the cause.

Opener Wilkin top-scored with 19 off 26 balls, closely followed by captain Katie Broad's season-high 18 off 33 in the middle order.

A 27-run partnership between Broad and Page (10 not out) proved to be the highlight of the Blues' innings with victorious pair Jordyn Hayes and coach Lester tearing them apart through the middle overs.

Both took 2-9 off their four overs to restrict Riverside to 5-82 while Cassie Blair (1-23) took the remaining wicket.

Both winning sides are set for a Friday night showdown next weekend with Invermay Park hosting Mowbray and South Launceston while Riverside take on Launceston on Saturday night at Windsor Park.

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