A CENTURY and two half-centuries saw West Gambier dominate the opening day of Round 9 of Barber Shield cricket against South Gambier on Saturday at Malseed Park.
Jake Blackwell worked his way to 112 runs, while down the order Ben Hentschke (60) and Sam Willis (57) both contributed half-centuries.
Richard Crute was also in fine form, falling just short of his milestone with 49 runs on a day the Demons’ bowling attack would probably rather forget.
In the end West reached a massive 349 runs, a total that will surely prove difficult to chase down on day two of play.
But it was not all plain sailing for the Roos, with opener Bowen Hosking judged lbw to Robert Drenthen for four runs with the total at 27.
Drenthen struck again just 11 runs later, having Tye McManus caught behind for 23 to give the Demons a solid start.
Jack Gosling could only offer four runs to the total and when Niall Easterbrook was bowled by Dylan Clough for a duck, suddenly West looked vulnerable at 4/53.
But Crute then dug in with Blackwell and the pair began to find the boundary almost at will, while running hard between the wickets to keep the run rate ticking over.
In the end they banged on a century partnership before Crute was sent back to the shed after his timely 49 runs.
Shane Stevens came and went for 10 runs, but from there the onslaught continued.
Adam Kuhl claimed the prized scalp of Blackwell, but not before his damaging century, then Hentschke and Willis simply went on with the job, adding another century stand for the Roos to stamp their authority on the contest.
Willis eventually succumbed to Camron Jorgenson for his 57, while Hentschke was unbeaten for his 60.
Wickets were hard to come by for South, but Drenthen, Jorgenson and Kuhl managed three each among the carnage.
The result will mean a tough day at the office for South when the round continues this week.
