ROUND eight of the Barber Shield season was tickled pink after West Gambier hosted a pink stumps day for its one-day clash against East Gambier at Malseed Park on Saturday.
Pink hats, pads, stumps, zinc cream and even a bat were all on show as players from both sides stood side by side in support of the McGrath Foundation.
At the end of the day it was the visiting Bulldogs side who jumped for joy after they claimed their first victory of the season.
A confident West side sent East in to bat which allowed the Bulldogs’ opening batsmen Dion Stratford and Darren Whitehorn to take advantage of the hot conditions and build a strong foundation.
East captain Stratford continued his outstanding form with the bat after he blazed a quick-fire half century, while Whitehorn stood firm at the other end in strong support.
The pair had put on 71 runs before Niall Easterbrook broke through the defences of Whitehorn for 21.
Four overs later, Easterbrook then removed the danger man and aggressor of the game Stratford for 54 who had looked in sublime touch stroking eight fours and a six after his Thursday night century in a Big Bash Twenty20 game.
New pair Connor Little and Alex Hentschke steadily constructed a response to see the team total reach triple figures with plenty of wickets in hand.
With the final overs approaching Hentschke hit a six off the first ball of Josh Cornolo’s fourth over in an attempt to raise the run-rate which was short-lived after he was bowled three balls later for 17.
Little fell for 27 shortly after as Sam Willis and Richard Crute claimed two poles each to cut through the Bulldogs’ middle order.
East fell away at the back end of its innings and the Bulldogs posted a total of 7/181 from their 40 overs thanks to late hitting from Ash Dumigan who made a vital 24 not out.
The Bulldogs looked to make early in-roads with the new ball and Hentschke did just that after he found the edge of Easterbrook’s pink bat to dismiss him for eight.
A triple strike from the bowling of Simon Golebiowski sparked a collapse to leave West reeling at 5/49.
Remaining opener Jack Geddes offered some resistance to the Bulldogs bowlers to top score with 31, before he was bowled by an Emerson Marks off break.
When Nick Bone was run out for a golden duck just two balls after the Geddes dismissal the score was 7/66 and a West defeat was inevitable.
Cameos from Ben Hentschke and Alex Hill ensured the home side saved the embarrassment of being bowled out for under 100.
The pace bowling return of Alex Hentscke saw the Roos’ tail wiped out to complete the resounding victory East have been searching for all season.
The breakthrough win could spark the Bulldogs’ season as it saw them jump from the bottom of the ladder up to fifth and they now have a chance to unexpectedly reach the finals.
But at the end of the game, cricket and the McGrath Foundation was the real winner of the pink stumps day after both teams got behind a great cause.
