By Lachlan Onions
THE second round of the Big Bash is set to take place on Thursday evening with two games played at Mount Gambier and one at Penola.
West Gambier will head across to the Blue Lake Sports Park to take on a hungry Demons side which looks strong this season.
South Gambier suffered an agonising one-run loss in Round 1 of the Big Bash and has claimed two wins in the Barber Shield this season.
Robbie Drenthen will be a key figure for the hosts and has been in strong form with both bat and ball.
The Roos will look to Nuwan Gunawardana and Jake Blackwell to do the damage with the bat.
The pair have looked strong this season and will be key wickets for South to take.
Both sides lost their first round clash but West Gambier will be strong enough to claim the honours on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Mil Lel and North Sportsman’s will lock horns at Frew Park.
Mil Lel and North have both struggled in the Barber Shield this season but Mil Lel claimed a victory over West Gambier in Round 1 of the Big Bash.
Brad Talbot will be a player to watch after he hit 45 runs off 41 balls in Round 1 against the Roos.
The Tigers will look to Isaac Mulraney, who has been a strong performer this year.
Despite an unideal start to the season, North will claim the points in this clash.
East Gambier will make the trek to McCorquindale Park to take on Penola in what should be a blockbuster clash.
The Bulldogs have been dominant this season in both the Big Bash and Barber Shield, while the Eagles have one win in each competition.
Jack Mullan will look to continue his form from Round 1 where he scored 51 runs and took 2/8 with the ball.
Penola will also look to Drew Clayfield, who enters this clash off the back of an impressive half-century against Mil Lel in the Barber Shield over the weekend.
For East Gambier, Dion Stratford will be pivotal with the bat and the Eagles will need to shut him down if they want to walk away with the points.
Stratford scored 52 runs in Round 1 of the Big Bash and made an unbeaten century in Round 1 of the Barber Shield.
With the ball, Alex Hentschke will look to do the damage for East Gambier.
This game could go right down to the wire and a winner is anyone’s guess when two of the competition’s stronger sides do battle.
