City and the Warriors bowlers backed up the efforts of their batsmen to clinch important away wins to sit first and second on 24 and 20 points respectively.

Teenager Cameron Wynn and Tim Baker were the chief wicket takers as City routed Norths at Lorn Park for just 102 in 39.2 overs after their batsman dominated on day one to score 288 led by 128 to Josh Trappel and 76 for skipper and brother Matt.

Trappel opted against pushing for an outright victory satisfied with a 166-run win against their most keen rival of recent seasons.

“We thought the wicket was pretty good. We could have gone out there and given it a crack but probably the last 10 overs Norths closed up shop and it was a bit harder to get the wickets.

“Nick (Bower) wasn’t spinning them as much so he wasn’t going to be as dangerous so we thought we’d just take the win.

“Over the years we’ve had some really close matches with Norths and it was good for once to put the foot down and drive home a convincing win.

“It’s good to see Tim Baker among the wickets and bowling really quick. It’s the best I’ve seen him bowl and I’m expecting big things from him this year. 

“It was good to see Cam Wynn come into the side and pick up three wickets as well and Tim Burton bowled really well as well.

“A couple of dropped catches was the only negative but we’ve won every session in the field this year so far. We have lost a couple with the bat but still got the wins.”

Lincoln Mills offered the only real resistance to City’s bowlers top scoring with 38 before being caught lbw by Josh Trappel.

Mills said Baker and Burton were complementing one another very well in the City attack.

“Tim is a very accurate bowler and Baker has a very quick action and is genuinely fast. They work well together. City are certainly the team to beat,” he said.

Kurri Weston showed they will be a genuine challenger dismissing Raymond Terrace for 171 to record a 131-run victory on Saturday.

Lions skipper Steve Smith (48), Jaymes Thomas (33) and Daniel Upward (42) made strong starts but couldn’t go on with the job to push the varied and strong Warriors attack.

Alex Seamer continued his outstanding start to the season taking 4-27 with new ball partner Jack Sylvester picking up 2-45.