Mt Waverley Uniting and Notting Hill Brandon Park are in a close battle despite the disparity of their positions on the ladder.

Uniting's Ben Dixon took 8-40 as his side dismissed its opponents for just 138.

But the combine struck back and at stumps the second-placed Uniting was six wickets down, needing a further 22 runs to take a first-innings lead.

Mt Waverley Catholics are consolidating their place in the top quartet of teams and, having already gained a first innings lead of 102, will

be seeking an outright win at the expense of CUCC Kings.

The Kings collapsed against the bowling

of Matt Jeffries (7-27) to be bundled out for just 61.

Glen Waverley had a lower order batting revival in its match with Chadstone Harlequin. Recovering from a score of 7-180, it finished with 288.

■ SCL junior sides completed their campaigns in the Victorian Metropolitan Cricket Union's representative competitions yesterday.

The SCL's under-14 side was battling its way through the Russell Allen Shield grand final against City of Moorabbin. The match ended after the Weekly deadline.

The league's under-16 and under-12 sides both missed the finals despite both notching several wins.

The under-16s finished their Jim Beitzel Shield competition with three wins. In a very competitive league, the under-12 team notched four wins but it still wasn't enough to make the finals in the Keith Mitchell Shield.

Under-16 batsman Arron Wheatley topped the run scorers in the Jim Beitzel Shield with 206 runs at 41.

Bowler Nicholas Stone was among the better under-16 performers with six wickets at 24 for the competition.

Before yesterday's grand final Alex Ross had topped the SCL under-14 batsmen with 166 at 33 and Thomas Sudano had taken 13 wickets, third best in the competition, at 27.

Jarryd Raffa was the best-performed under-12 batsman with 130 runs at 43 while Hamish McIntyre took eight wickets at 22 for the competition.