A CLINICAL bowling effort led North Sportsman’s to its maiden triumph of the 2019/20 Mount Gambier Cricket Association season against East Gambier at Scott Park on Sunday.
The reigning premier was forced to fight for victory in a low-scoring Barber Shield contest, which saw 29 wickets fall across the two days of action.
The Tigers won the toss and batted first, but failed to capitalise after they suffered a nightmare start.
Top-order stars Jake Schutz, Aidan Thatcher, Kayne Badman and Daniel Brown crumbled and fell in quick succession as Alex Hentschke and Ben Clark wreaked havoc with the new ball.
At 4/15, North captain Nick McInerney walked to the crease with the mission of digging his side out of a disaster.
Despite an accidental collision with the umpire, McInerney quickly found his feet alongside the experienced Kieran Ashby.
The pair defied the home side with strong defence and slowly built a platform for the middle order.
After 40 runs were added to the total, Clark’s patience paid off when he found the edge of Ashby’s bat to dismiss the batsman for a handy 36-run contribution.
Youngster Elliott Fisher continued the Tigers’ fightback with a resolute innings.
Fisher and McInerney fought hard for over an hour and pushed North close to triple figures with a 39-run stand.
But the game took another turn as Hentschke stamped his authority on the match during a destructive display of fast bowling.
The Bulldogs’ captain removed both set batsmen Fisher and McInerney for 21 and 27 runs respectively before he turned his attention to the tail.
Hentschke tore apart the Tigers’ lower order in a three-over spell of 5/3 and bowled the visitors out for an under-par 106.
His effort saw him end with the figures of 7/28 and gave his side a significant shot at victory.
But North’s bowling unit had other ideas and attacked with the swinging Kookaburra in hand.
Declan Kenny broke the game open with a pair of early wickets.
Connor Little was the first to go for a 14-ball duck, while Kenny also claimed the big wicket of Dion Stratford for eight.
Kenny’s opening partner Tim Young continued the assault and dismissed Matthew Hastings lbw for two and the home side was in deep trouble at 3/17.
Ben Hentschke watched the chaos unfold at the non-strikers end and dug in to put East’s run chase back on track.
He found support from Nathan Gore and the pair fought hard in a 27-run stand.
But Kenny’s pace proved too much for Gore, who was caught behind for 16.
Ben Hentschke continued to be a frustrating figure for the visitors and he was joined by his brother Alex.
The pair began to build a recovery and pushed the Bulldogs past the half-way mark.
But a mix up running between the wickets brought Ben’s defiance to an end after he fought hard to score 20 runs from 114 deliveries.
The run out proved to be a turning point in the match and sparked another collapse, which the home side failed to recover from.
McInerney introduced himself into the bowling attack and dismissed both Alex Hentschke and Kev Thomson lbw in quick succession.
With 43 runs required for victory, East’s lower order could not resist the bowling of Young and Badman.
The final three wickets were bowled as the Bulldogs were all out for a meagre 79 to hand the Tigers first-innings honours, while Travis Younghusband remained not out on 10.
The wickets continued to tumble in North’s second innings, as the victors slipped to 9/76 before stumps was called on the second day.
Alex Hentschke claimed a 10-wicket haul for the match with three more victims, while Clark, Ben Hentschke and Thomson picked up two scalps each.
Kenny was the top scorer with 21 runs to his name, but no other Tiger could make it past 10 on a challenging pitch.
Despite the defeat, East remains in second position on the ladder, while North’s maiden win promoted the reigning-premier up to fourth spot.
