With the victor almost guaranteed a semi-final berth, Ginninderra looked as though they had a foot in the door after they skittled Queanbeyan for 169 on Saturday.
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Tigers skipper Michael Delaney (5-19) and Jak Willcox (3-20) did the damage, but the notion of missing all three finals series in one season didn't sit well with the Bluebags' bowlers.
Ginninderra were 5-56, before steadying to finish on 5-84. The match is evenly poised with each side halfway towards their target.
ANU's slim finals chances took a hit against Eastlake, with five batsman trudging back to the pavilion without a run to their name as they were rolled for 121.
Meanwhile, Wests are making a case for a home semi-final in their match against Creek, trailing by 135 runs with eight wickets in hand.
Wests bowler Robbie van Aalst picked up 4-65 in his second first grade match of the season as the hosts folded for 225. The Lions will resume at 2-90 on day two.
North Canberra-Gungahlin were knocked over for just 46 to record the club's second lowest total in Douglas Cup history against Tuggeranong.
Adam Ritchard was the chief destroyer for the ladder leaders, finishing with 6-7 from just 8.3 overs after Norths recovered from 7-17 in the early going.
The last three wickets fell for zero runs, but by that stage Norths had scrambled to reach 46, almost 13 months to the day since Tuggeranong were rolled for 17 against Weston Creek Molonglo.
Tuggeranong captain Shane Devoy only needed three bowlers to get the job done, with outgoing English import Charlie Morris claiming 4-33 (7), and Johnathon Whiteoak bowling one wicketless over.
As Ritchard picked up a bag of early wickets he struggled to comprehend what was going on.
"It felt pretty surreal," Ritchard said.
"Cricket's a funny game but there's not usually too many days like that, where you bowl a side out within that amount of overs. Everyone was like 'Wow, is this actually happening?'"
Tuggeranong began the day with bat in hand where half-centuries to Michael Barrington-Smith (59) and Devoy (50) lifted them to 234.
With around 20 overs left in the day's play when they went out to bowl, Tuggeranong were eyeing a decent start with the ball that could set them up for a victory next week.
They only needed 16.3 overs to get the first innings win, and the batsmen finished the day at 0-21.
