By Lachlan Onions
EAST GAMBIER 8/101 d NORTH SPORTSMAN’S 6/95
ANOTHER close encounter took place between East Gambier and North Sportsman’s on Saturday as the Bulldogs prevailed by two wickets at home in a clash which went down to the wire at Alan Scott Park.
After last season’s Barber Shield clashes saw the Tigers win both games by a combined total of 15 runs, a nail-biting contest was expected and a nail-biter it was, as the game was in the balance until the final over.
North was sent into bat first after the Bulldogs won the toss and openers Michael Johnston and Nicolas Brown, put together a strong opening partnership.
The Tigers scored 55 runs before a neat piece of work with the gloves from Alex Hill brought the opening stand to an end when Johnston was stumped off the bowling of Emerson Marks for 22 runs.
The Bulldogs struck again in the next over when Brown was bowled by James Sullivan for 14 runs.
Sullivan ripped through the Tigers batting order and took three wickets in the 27th over.
Declan Kenny was adjudged LBW on the second ball of the over, before Nick McInerney was caught on the fourth ball and Nicholas Copping was bowled for a duck on the final ball of the over.
In the space of just six overs, the clash had turned on its head and the visitors had lost 5/9.
The final 13 overs saw East Gambier pick up one wicket for 31 runs and the hosts were in a strong position to claim victory.
Sullivan’s eight overs saw him finish with figures of 4/29, while Marks picked up 1/13 off eight overs at an economy rate of 1.62.
Sullivan opened the batting alongside Ben Robinson and while the pair did not score runs at a high run-rate, they did see off the new ball.
McInerney found the breakthrough in the 12th over to dismiss Robinson for just seven runs.
Four overs later, McInerney struck again when he bowled Sullivan for 13 runs.
At 2/26 after 16 overs, the economical bowling from the likes of McInerney, Isaac Mulraney and Kenny appeared to be paying dividends.
However, the clash was far from over as Dion Stratford was next in for East Gambier and was fresh off the back of an unbeaten century in Round 1.
Stratford and Marks combined for 20 runs before the latter was dismissed by Matthew Robinson in the 23rd over.
Johnston claimed the coveted wicket of Stratford in the 28th over to leave the Bulldogs at 4-58.
In a tug-of-war clash, where momentum went back and fourth, the Tigers looked to put the foot down when they claimed their fifth wicket to leave the hosts at 5/64.
East Gambier now needed 32 runs off 57 balls and Alex Hentschke made a vital cameo appearance with the bat as he added 14 runs off just 15 deliveries.
However, North Sportsman’s refused to die and Kenny found the breakthrough to dismiss Hentschke and the hosts needed 15 runs off the final four overs, with four wickets in hand.
McInerney claimed another scalp when he bowled Liam Turley in the 36th over, then struck again with the final ball of the 38th over.
At 8/90, East Gambier needed six runs off the final two overs and Mulraney gave up just three runs off the penultimate over to set up a grandstand finale.
Hill picked up a single off the first ball of the over, before a wide from McInerney the following ball meant scores were tied with five ball remaining.
Batting at number 10, Jack Lawrence was the hero as he hit a boundary off the fourth ball of the over to seal the win before picking up two runs off the final ball which put the icing on the cake.
On a day where batting proved difficult, North’s Johnston was the only player from either side to score 20 runs or more.
Tigers captain Nick McInerney was the best of the bowlers with 4/25 off eight overs and next-best was Robinson with 2/14 at 1.74 runs per over.
