With the cutthroat T20 A grade competition at its halfway point, every single match is a must-win if teams want the chance to play for some silverware.

Rovers United Bruck firmed as a contender after knocking over an impressive Beechworth outfit by 30 runs at Baarmutha Park on Saturday.

After some less than impressive performances at the top of the order, Hawks posted 5/178 from their 20 overs thanks to a 98-run first-wicket partnership, before limiting Beechworth to 7/148.

RUB opening pair of Charith Perera and Jordan Hansted found their form after some misfires early in the innings, forming the backbone of the Hawks innings after Beechworth elected to bowl first.

Perera (61 off 32, SR 190.62) found the boundary off the fourth ball of the innings, one of eight boundaries and two maximums in his innings while Hansted (38 off 26, SR 146.15) was doing as much damage at the other end.

Beechworth had no answer for the onslaught, with multiple bowlers tossed the ball in hopes of manufacturing a breakthrough.

None were successful until Cam Fendyk bowled the ninth over, and managed to bowl Hansted, the score ballooning at 1/98.

The rest of the top and middle order kept the runs flowing, with Reid McNamara (26* from 21) and Jeremy Wilson (17* off 13) unbeaten at the end of the 20 overs, with 5/178 on the board.

Skipper Wilson said the work his batters did after a lean start to the season was incredible to see.

“It was really nice to see Chazzy [Perera] and Jordie [Hansted] get off to a good start,” he said.

“They were going at 10 an over but they weren’t slogging, they were just playing good cricket shots, so it was really enjoyable to watch.

“The boys got a little bit inventive, Chazzy likes to play his ramps and his cut shots and pull shots, and he’ll go over the top straight if he has to - he’s hard to bowl to at the best of times, he’s probably a bit unlucky he missed out twice last week, and he generally doesn’t miss out too many weeks in a row.

“Jordie just hasn’t played a lot of cricket recently, so he probably showed a bit of rust last weekend and got going on Saturday and played some nice cricket shots.

“The wicket was really good – credit to the guys at Beechworth, they’ve got a good grass cover on it this year, the ball was coming on really nicely.

“We just wanted to make sure we didn’t play too many dot balls.”

With a more than competitive total on the board – the largest so far in the T20 competition – it was up to the bowlers and fielders to do the job.

While Beechworth’s top order was resolute, they found it hard to score with the freedom the Hawks had – at the halfway point of their innings, the Wanderers were 37 runs behind where RUB were after 10 overs.

The Hawks picked up regular wickets to stem any sort of match-winning partnership from forming, keeping the stumps in play to force the Beechworth batters to either defend or risk an aggressive shot.

Ultimately, the Hawks had too many on the board for Beechworth to, securing their second T20 win by 30 runs.

Will Graham’s 2/26 from four overs was a standout, but all the RUB bowlers chipped in admirably.

“We wanted to get through the first six overs, I said to the guys if Beechworth get six or seven an over, that’s okay because they needed nine,” Wilson said.

“We just wanted to try and bowl at the stumps, and once we got through the first six overs, we could spread the field but still squeeze them.

“The boys didn’t bowl boundary balls at all, it really forced Beechworth to hit good cricket shots and take the field on if they wanted those boundaries.

“While they still made 140, it was a really disciplined performance.”

The result keeps their hopes for a spot in the T20 final well and truly alive, sitting second overall, equal on wins with the Magpies but with a superior percentage.

Just two rounds of T20 matches remain ahead of the final, set for Saturday, 20 December.