ON a day full of upsets, it was the South Gambier Demons who won the Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association Big Bash Twenty20 Cup for the fifth time at Marist Park on Sunday.
The Demons defeated West Gambier by 38 runs in the final to lift the trophy and claim back-to-back titles.
It was survival of the fittest for the players with two semi-finals and a final played in scorching temperatures.
South was the first side to advance into the decider after it won a high scoring semi-final over competition favourites North Sportsman’s, while underdogs West Gambier comfortably defeated Penola in the second semi-final.
The important toss in the grand final was won by Demons’ captain Dylan Clough who decided to have first use of the dried up and worn pitch.
Opening the batting, Clough struggled at the top of the order and could not repeat his brilliant 85 from earlier in the day to be bowled by Sam Willis for one.
The early loss of their leader did not faze remaining opener Robert Drenthen and new bat Adam Somerfield, who built a strong 63-run partnership through a display of powerful boundary hitting.
The stand, which included nine fours and three sixes, ended when Drenthen was dismissed, caught and bowled by Niall Easterbrook for the innings’ top score of 38.
Drenthen left the crease with his side in a strong position at 2/71 and just over half the innings remaining.
David Vine came out swinging from ball one and smashed two sixes off one over from Ben Hentschke to build the total.
Easterbrook also ended Somerfield’s stay at the crease for a well-compiled 31.
Josh Cornollo found success in his solitary over of the match when he dismissed Luke Zadow for eight.
Vine continued to play his aggressive strokes and was joined by the proactive Josh Thompson, but the former’s important cameo was finished by West skipper Jake Blackwell for 34.
In the next over Willis dismissed Daniel Loupos cheaply with the help of Hentschke who took his second catch for the match.
Thompson threatened to extend the total towards 150, but Willis found a way through his defences for 13 to finish with the impressive bowling figures of 3/12 from his four overs.
Dane Pople attacked in the final over, but a strong Roos’ fielding and death bowling display restricted the defending champions’ score to 7/141 from their 20 overs, a shadow of their morning score of 191 against North.
West would have been pleased to chase such a total and knew if its openers could see out the early overs, an unexpected final victory was within reach.
However, this was far from the case after youngster Connor Prior fell on his second ball to a sharp caught-and-bowled chance to Somerfield, who also knocked over Blackwell for 10 in his next over.
At the other end, three balls later, Clough removed Willis for one to leave the Roos in all-sorts of trouble at 3/34.
Watching the wickets fall around him, remaining opener Easterbrook fought fire with fire and found the boundary rope regularly.
Five boundaries and 25 runs later, Easterbrook holed out at deep square-leg in Drenthen’s first over and his wicket at 4/43 saw West’s victory chances slip away.
Richard Crute was joined by Hentschke at the crease and began to dig in against the Demon’s pressure.
After a slow start, multiple strong hits through mid-wicket sparked Crute’s innings and a defiant stand between the pair.
The South bowlers started to feel the pressure as they bowled multiple no-balls in attempt to slow the continuous flow of runs.
At the half way point, West matched South’s score and Crute and Hentschke looked in ominous touch.
It took the introduction of Cam Jorgenson to break the partnership when he claimed the big wicket of Crute for 26, who was caught on the boundary rope.
When Vine dismissed Hentschke soon after for 20, the result was effectively inevitable.
Jorgenson destroyed the tail, bowling three of the last four batsmen to return with the match-best haul of 4/16 and wrap up a convincing win for the Demons.
For his vital contributions with both bat and ball, Demon Somerfield was named player-of-the-final and his captain Clough said he played a major role in their success.
“He was huge for us,” he said.
“He was keen to come and play so it was really good to have him back.”
Due to three games played on the same pitch during the day, Clough believed winning the toss was a big advantage in the hot conditions.
“It was fairly warm out there, but it cooled off as the day went on,” he said.
“I think it was a good toss to win and bat first and put them out in the field when it was the hottest part of the day.
“It was good to get runs on the board early up because runs in finals are important.
“If you post a good enough score you put the pressure back on them.”
After smashing 191 in the first game of the day, Clough said his teams score of 141 in the final was not ideal, but he backed his bowling attack to defend it.
“Our score in the final was probably a little bit under done,” he said.
“We tried to target 170 which would have been good for us.
“We only got 141, but with our good bowling attack I was comfortable we would get it done.”
Clough said the turning point of the game was the early wickets at the top of West’s innings, but the nerves did creep in when Crute and Hentschke fought back.
“Early wickets were vital because we only had a small total on the board,” he said.
“I was actually getting a bit nervous when I was trying to think of who to bowl next when it kind of came unstuck.”
Clough also gave credit to Jorgenson who wrapped up the game in destructive fashion.
“Jorgenson just bowled his two day lengths which worked in the situation of the game,” he said.
“He was really good at hitting back of a length, so they had to try and create something from nothing which worked well.”
Clough said he was proud of his team to win back-to-back titles.
“I definitely backed the team,” he said.
“On our day, when we get it right we are a very good team.
“It was a good day, the boys played well and I am quite happy to go back-to-back.”
