Mooroolbark and Templeton Taipans hold the top two spots and are a win clear of the chasing pack, with South Warrandyte, Bayswater Park, Norwood and Croydon North all locked in a battle for the remaining two spots.

On a slow outfield, Mooroolbark moved to the top of the ladder after successfully defending 180 against Croydon North.

The Knights struggled to put any big partnerships together and had no answer to Jason Watts (7-26) as they fell for a paltry 92.

Bayswater Park sounded a clear warning of its intentions with a win against South Warrandyte.

Stephen Craigie (109) and Ben Beech (51) were the best bats against the Hawks, reeling in the target of 243 with four wickets to spare.

Wonga Park dented Norwood's finals prospects with a narrow three-run win. A 108-run opening partnership between Rowan Allport (56) and Chris Parker (53) did the damage and, despite some erratic batting in the middle order, Ross Little (30no), Michael Letson (25) and Adrian Brush (27) helped to snare the win.

Chasing down South Croydon's 7-256 was never going to be easy for a winless Warranwood but, to their credit, they gave it a good shake with a reply of 228.

Brendan Moore made 80 and Andrew Spittle added 53, while Travis Degenhardt snared 5-56 to get the Bulldogs across the line.

Gareth Taylor (68) and Michael Scott (64) helped North Ringwood (238) chase down Croydon Ranges' 231, while Templeton's Jason Disney (100no) and Nathan Owen (94no) were the chief destroyers in a big win for Taipans over Wantirna South.