Looking to continue its unbeaten record of six from six, Cobram won the toss and elected to bat.
Hugh Hyde got things under way for the home side, making 11 from 29, but it was fellow opener Jimmy Daniel who stole the show, with an unbeaten 63 from 112.
Meanwhile, Tyron Baden returned from knee surgery to leave no doubts of his ability after making 51 from 44.
His brother Jeremy Baden added 26 to leave his side on 163 for nine when bowled by the Rhinos’ Hamish Baker.
Deniliquin was set a target of 175 for victory.
From early on, despite the efforts of Cobram’s Jaxon Webb and Jimmy Daniel, the Rhinos ran away with a display of dominant batting.
Griegan French notched an impressive 65 from 113, while Andrew Hogan proved himself a headache for the home side with an unbeaten 88 from 139.
The Rhinos eased to victory with a total of 4/175 from 43.5 overs.
Cobram Cricket Club president Manny Artavilla said his side played into Deniliquin’s hands.
“We were pretty disappointed with the way we batted,” he said.
“Those two [French and Hogan] batted a lot better than us and played smarter cricket compared to us.
“We... let ourselves down with the bat. Jimmy [Daniel] batted the whole innings for 60-odd, then Tyron Baden returned to his first game. They were probably the two shining lights for our batting.”
“We still made 170, so that’s probably another positive to take out of it.”
But it was losing clusters of wickets that let the Tigers down, Artavilla said.
He said the side would be working on its batting during training this week.
“Especially going into two-dayers, it’s a longer format,” he said.
The side was also missing gun veteran Shaun Downie, which Artavilla said left a massive hole in the team.
“Missing Shaun Downie, that’s a big part of it,” he said.
“He’s probably the number one cricketer in the competition, and has been for at least well over the decade.”
He said Cobram would be looking to get back on to the winner’s list when it faced Barooga at home this weekend.
“The competition’s close. It’s going to be anyone on their day, especially the top four. You’ve just got to make sure on game day you’re up and about,” Artavilla said.
This weekend’s clash with Barooga will also mark Artavilla’s 200th A-grade match for Cobram.
After the weekend’s matches, Cobram has dropped to second place below Nathalia, while Deniliquin remains on third place and Katamatite on fourth.
Across the district in A-grade, Katamatite (10/153) eased past Berrigan (10/126) by 27 runs, while Finley (10/162) was unable to reel in the Bloods (9/187).
In round six of B-grade, Nathalia proved too strong for Cobram, making 5/103 to the Tigers’ 10/101 at Nathalia.
Cobram C-Grade enjoyed a 35-run win over Deniliquin at Deniliquin. Reece Hardwidge made an impressive 38 from 48, while Travis North added a respectable 20 from 25 for the visitors.
