By Lachlan Onions
EAST GAMBIER 5/125 d SOUTH GAMBIER 6/124
THE East Gambier Bulldogs claimed a nail-biting one-run victory over the South Gambier Demons in Round 1 of the Big Bash on Thursday.
The Bulldogs were sent into bat first, where Alex Hill and Dion Stratford dealt the damage with the bat.
Hill scored an unbeaten 34 runs, while Stratford continued to be a thorn in the Demons’ side this season as he scored 52 runs, to add to his unbeaten century he scored when he faced South Gambier in Round 1 of the Barber Shield.
While Hill and Stratford did the main damage, Jake Wight added a handy 17 runs which helped the hosts reach a defendable total of 5/125.
East claimed the coveted wicket of Robbie Drenthen cheaply and the Demons’ main man was sent back to the pavilion for just six runs.
Adam Kuhl was the next to go when he was bowled by Emerson Marks to make it 2/24 before Elwood Geary was dismissed to make it 3/62.
Easterbrook and Daniel Loupos formed a 34-run partnership but the former was then dismissed by James Sullivan.
Loupos was bowled for 25 runs by Alex Hentschke and the pressure was on Dylan Clough and David Vine to finish off the chase with just 18 runs needed for victory.
As the game went down to the wire, Hentschke came up clutch and bowled Clough for 10 runs to make it 6/123 and Jacob Opie was the next in but could only manage the one run before the innings came to a conclusion.
For South, Geary was the best of the batters with 28 runs.
MIL LEL 8/116 d WEST GAMBIER 10/93
Mil Lel claimed an upset win over the defending champion with a strong performance at Malseed Park.
West Gambier won the toss and sent Mil Lel into bat and the Roos found a breakthrough with the first ball of the third over when Jack Miller was bowled by Bray Stephenson for just two runs.
Brad Talbot and William Rowland added runs quickly before Trent Badman dismissed Rowland for 21 to leave Mil Lel at 2/48 off 6.2 overs.
Logan Gibbs kept the runs flowing when he made his way to the crease and combined with Talbot for a 34-run stand before Talbot was stumped off Jack Geddes’ bowling for 45 runs.
Talbot scored at an impressive strike-rate of 109.75 and hit four 4’s and two 6’s.
From then, the wickets began to tumble and Gibbs was the last player dismissed before the completion of the 20 overs.
Gibbs scored 31 runs off 37 balls in an inning which included four boundaries.
Trent Badman claimed half the wickets for the Roos and ended his four overs with 4/12, while Geddes finished with figures of 2/17 off three overs.
Mil Lel was relentless from the first over and Niall Easterbrook was dismissed for a duck in the first over.
Just three balls later, Ned Wilke was dismissed by Gibbs to make it 2/5 after a mere seven balls.
Jake Blackwell and Badman restored parity for West Gambier and combined for 33 runs before the former was dismissed by Jack Miller.
Miller then claimed the wicket of Badman shortly after to leave West struggling at 4/46.
Nuwan Gunawardana led the way for the Roos and scored 24 runs unbeaten but it was all in vain as his side was bowled out 23 runs short of the target.
Mil Lel’s Gibbs, Miller and Harrison Hicks were relentless with the ball and each grabbed three wickets and Hicks boasted the best figures with 3/14.
PENOLA 7/132 d NORTH SPORTSMAN’S 8/100
Penola was sent into bat first at Marist Park and Jack Mullan led the way as he scored 51 runs.
Mullan was supported by Tom Clayfield, who picked up 24 runs to help the Eagles post a strong total.
The Tigers were no match in response and were held to just 100 runs after 20 overs.
After a strong performance with the bat, Mullan backed it up with 2/8 off four overs in the second innings.
Mark Smith was the best performer with the ball and ended with figures of 3/23 at the end of his four over spell.
Round 2 of the Big Bash will see South Gambier host West Gambier, where the Roos will look to bounce back after their Round 1 defeat.
Elsewhere, North Sportsman’s will take on Mil Lel at Frew Park in a clash which could go either way.
The match of the round will be at McCorquindale Park when Penola hosts East Gambier.
