IT was a mere formality for North Sportsman’s as they chased a meagre target of 94 runs for victory in Round 9 of Barber Shield cricket on Saturday.
Mil Lel could manage just 93 runs on day one of play at Frew Park and had a huge job ahead to hold the Tigers down.
While three North wickets were already back in the shed after the first day – Michael Johnston, Matthew Robinson and Nick McInerney – Jake Schutz sat on an overnight score of 44 not out.
However, despite easily passing the total to claim first-innings points, there was little to cheer about for the North supporters, with only Matthew McInerney joining Schutz in double figures.
Brad Robinson went for just nine runs, while Jack Armfield could only manage eight.
Matt McInerney could only manage 20 runs and little came from the bat from there, apart from that of Schutz, which yielded 86.
Gavin Coon contributed five runs, Tom Edwards seven and Josh Fidler three.
It was anything but an impressive victory, but the 151-run total was enough for first-innings points.
Mil Lel was well served by its main-strike bowlers, with Ben Thiel, Jonathan Allcock, Jack Miller, Tom Nieuwerkerk and Justin Lamont all claiming two wickets.
Mil Lel then headed back to the crease and despite a shaky start managed to fend off any hope of an outright victory for the Tigers.
The first three wickets fell for 17 runs and the improbable began to look possible.
But Craig Lock settled for the home side, with his 31 runs going a long way to set up the innings.
However, Mil Lel was still finding it tough to score, but a timely 49 from Caleb Bachmann and an unbeaten 21 down the order from Nieuwerkerk ensured the outright remained out of play.
Matt McInerney was the best of the North bowlers, with figures of 3/29 off 14 overs.
