Wangaratta Magpies will be rueing their missed chances after a strong Yarrawonga Mulwala side chased well at Norm Minns Oval.

Despite some strong innings from Tyler Nanson (72 off 77 balls), David Killen (43 off 67) and James Thewlis (26 off 42), the Magpies weren’t able hold onto their opportunities in the field, with the Lakers chasing down the 197 target six wickets down in the 43rd over.

After winning the toss and batting first, the Magpies were in trouble early when big-hitting opener Cooper Matheson was dismissed LBW for just five runs, shouldering arms in the second over.

Jack Davies worked hard for his 14 off 17 balls, but when he edged behind, David Killen joined Nanson at the crease with the Magpies at 2/36.

Under pressure, Killen and Nanson would fight back heroically against a quality bowling attack for an 89-run partnership, getting the Magpies’ innings back on track.

Nanson was in complete control, bringing up his half-century off 58 balls, belting Brock McCabe for a single to deep midwicket to raise the bat.

The runs kept coming, and at a good clip, until the 24th over, which saw Nanson get a feather edge to wicket-keeper Reid Clarke off the bowling of Ben Welsh.

While Thewlis got a start, he wasn’t able to cash in, with the rest of the batting order falling with little resistance.

Skipper Matheson said the Lakers bowlers kept them tied down for long sections of the innings.

“We were in a good position with the bat, we were 3/125 with 25 overs left so we were aiming for a 230+ score, but credit to Yarra they just bowled really well in the middle overs, and our new batsmen who went in couldn’t quite tick the strike over,” he said.

“I don’t think many got over a run a ball through the middle, they tied us down a heap and kept us to 190.

“We had to be inventive to try and score, but just couldn’t figure it out.”

The run chase was anchored and in large part powered by Lakers opener Fraser Smart, who clobbered 81 runs from 87 balls to propel Yarrawonga Mulwala in the right direction, but it was far from chanceless.

“Fielding-wise, we probably lost the game ourselves – we dropped Fraser Smart on two, then again on seven, then another two times under 20,” Matheson lamented.

“Once you drop him four times and he starts slapping you all over the park, everyone’s energy drops a fair bit, and more mistakes keep on happening after that.

“I think for the day we ended up having eight or nine dropped catches, which was very poor.

“You’re not going to win a game of cricket doing that, it was a very poor performance in the field.”

James Thewlis was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/23 from his nine overs, while Tyler Nanson (2/41 from nine overs), Nick Stebnyckyj (1/40 off nine), and Matt Prestianni (1/43 from 7.4 overs) also snared a wicket.

The Magpies sit fourth with a 2-2 record, while the Lakers move to second.

Just one round of one-day cricket remains before the season moves into a block of T20 matches.