Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen.

Wangaratta Magpies A grade cricketers are on the precipice of being knocked out of the top four with finals just around the corner, following a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Yarrawonga Mulwala at the Wangaratta Showgrounds on Saturday.

Batting first on a good-looking surface, the Magpies collapsed to 131 all out, completely ripped to shreds by an on-song Lakers attack.

The Lakers then chased the total with ease, losing just two wickets in the innings, all wrapped up in under 35 overs.

Batting first, the first domino fell for the Magpies in the fourth over, with Cooper Matheson driving an Angus Heslin ball to the cover fielder, dismissed for two.

Harkaran Mann would last just five balls, caught driving in the same part of the ground.

Flailing at 2/4, the Magpies needed someone to dig in, which is what Tyler Nanson did, sacrificing his normally sky-high strike rate for composure at the crease.

It was needed – apart from Nanson’s 29 off 67 and James Thewlis’ 28 off 40, there weren’t really any innings of note, and the Magpies crumbled to a sub-par 131 all out.

Heslin was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with four maiden overs and 3/11, while Zac Fraser (2/29 off 7.5) and Devlin Webb (1/21 off eight) were handy as well.

Magpies captain Cooper Matheson said it was a shocker of a day with the bat.

“We disappointed with the bat,” he said.

“The pitch looked pretty good so we won the toss and chose to bat, but it showed a bit of life for the first 15-20 overs then was flat as after that.

“It would’ve been a good toss to lose, but that happens.

“Because there was heavy dew in the morning, it was just a bit tacky, and it was a bit poppy and two-paced to start off with.

"It flattened out as the day went on.

“In the second half of our innings, we probably could’ve tried to cash in more, but no one could really get going.

“Nanno played a very different role that what he usually does, he’s usually going pretty quick, so for him to adapt and really play a two-day game, it helped us get a bit of a target to defend.

“There were a few poor dismissals throughout the day on our end as well.

“These things happen, it’s cricket.”

With a small total to defend, the Magpies knew the only hope of a win would be to attack the stumps, try and force wickets before the Lakers could get their innings going.

Unfortunately, Yarrawonga Mulwala were more than up for the fight – while they lost Kyle Archibald (10 off 31) and Fraser Smart (22 off 51), the Lakers were never in doubt as they cruised to an eight-wicket win, courtesy of Ben Welsh (52* off 70) and Devlin Webb (40* off 59).

“We had nothing to lose, defending 130, so there was no point in trying to bowl your overs out and keep them under, we tried to really attack them," Matheson said.

“On the Showies, a flat track, the bowlers can work very hard and not get much out of the wicket.

“We bowled well in stages, which we can take parts from that out, but they batted unreal.”

The Magpies are now a real risk of falling out of the top four – they’ll need to win one of their next two and hope results go their way to guarantee a spot in finals.

“It would’ve been very good to win this one and secure it – I think we would’ve ended up second if we had won, but we’ve got to win one of the next two,” Matheson said.

“Ideally, we’d win two and not need to worry about it.

“It’s pressure on.”