The home side went within seven runs of chasing down Kyabram’s score of 7-177 in a tense finish in the clash at Nagambie.
Nagambie tailenders Brayden Briggs with 28, Matthew Martin (21 not out) and James Lloyd (12 not out) rallied late with the bat to give their side hope of victory.
But the Kyabram bowlers led by Charlie McLay and Alec Young were able to hold the Lakers to a losing score in a tension-packed finish.
Kyabram coach Jackson McLay said Nagambie was in positions late to pinch a win, but his bowlers had did a good job in the last five overs to restrict the home team’s run rate.
‘‘They only needed five an over in their last few overs, so we did a good job to hold them under that,’’ McLay said
McLay has led Kyabram into the last five finals series as coach.
Sent in to bat at the toss of the coin, Kyabram’s strong batting line-up was contained by a tight Nagambie pace attack which gave nothing away.
James Auld was the only multiple wicket-taker with 2-36 off nine overs, while skipper Kyle Mueller was again the mainstay of the Kyabram innings.
Mueller batted carefully and confidently to produce a match-high score of 63 off 88 deliveries with five boundaries.
He shared in a productive stand with Young who made 29 after openers Cade Mueller (21) and Billy McLay (16) had provided a solid start to the visitors’ innings.
Late runs from Jackson and Charlie McLay and Tom Holman proved crucial for Kyabram in the final wash-up.
In reply many of the Nagambie batters got a start, but Brayden Briggs with 28 at number eight provided the highest contribution to his team’s run tally.
Mark Nolan (19), James Wilson (20) and Roy Ezard (21) also kept Nagambie in the game until the end.
Off-spinner Young with 3-20 off six overs and Charlie McLay with 2-20 off nine overs were the multiple wicket-takers for Kyabram.
The win consolidated a Kyabram break of 10 premiership points at the top of the ladder over second-placed Central Park-St Brendan’s who chased down a competitive Mooroopna score.
With two rounds of two-day (80 overs) games to go six sides are battling for the last four places in the top six – and a berth in the finals.
Kyabram plays two of these teams, Mooroopna at Kyabram starting on Saturday and then Tatura (away) in the final two rounds.
