Unable to make the finals, the red and blacks have the bye in the final round and they will be gunning for a victory to finish the year today.

Tough to do considering they’re chasing almost 350.

For the second time this season Cavaliers scored in excess of 300 against Centrals, and for the second time this season the red and blacks face one of the toughest chases in ODCA history.

Last time, somewhat surprisingly, they made it to 261 in pursuit of Cavaliers’ 301 - with plenty on the line. At that point in time Centrals could still make the final three.

Today, Centrals skipper Jake Pauletto - who won’t play today - backed his side to chase down the massive total, providing weather hasn’t impacted the Country Club Oval pitch too much.

“With (Nick) Dunlop back at the top of the order our batting line-up is strengthened,” Pauletto said.

“We’ve also got guys like Hutchy (Chris Hutchinson), and Max (Dodds) who can stick around for a long time. If we get them going with Dunny (Dunlop) or Dean (Turner) firing at the other end then we are capable of getting, and chasing, very big scores.”

In today’s other clash at KWS Main Oval, Orange City finds itself in a precarious position at 4-50 chasing the students’ total of 120.

Warriors skipper Matt Findlay said he has no doubt his side will get home, providing it can play to conditions.

“Last week the Kinross wicket was slow, painfully slow,” Findlay said.

“With the rain this week we can assume it will be the same, and if we emulate the way (Kinross skipper) Charlie Litchfield batted we should be okay.

“He took ones every chance he got, and our running between wickets will be crucial (today). We need to be turning ones into twos, and twos into threes to make sure we pick up every run possible.

“To be fair, on that outfield, 120 is probably worth about 180.”

Former University of Newcastle pair Ben Jonas (9 not out) and Craig Rogan (1 not out) are the not out batsmen.

Both games kick off at 1pm.