By Lachlan Onions
A BOWLING masterclass from Lachy Jones has put Penola in a strong position at the end of Day 1 in its Round 5 Barber Shield clash with East Gambier.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first at McCorquindale Park but with overcast conditions and rain in the area, it was ideal weather for the bowlers.
Jones claimed the first wicket of the game when James Sullivan edged the ball to Drew Clayfield in the slips cordon to make it 1/12.
The left-handed pace bowler continued to ask questions of the Bulldogs batting outfit and he soon claimed the second wicket of the contest when Ben Robinson was caught by Jesse Vass.
Jones made light work of East Gambier’s top order as he soon dismissed Emerson Marks to leave the visitors at 3/40.
However, with Dion Stratford at the crease with Alex and captain Alex Hentschke next in, the job was far from over for Penola.
Jones claimed his fourth scalp of the game in the 28th over when he dismissed Hill and the pressure was on Hentschke as he went out to face the music at 4/60.
However, Hentschke and Stratford dug deep and the pendulum began to shift back in East Gambier’s favour.
Stratford kept the runs flowing, while Hentschke held firm at the other end and the Bulldogs found themselves well and truly in the contest at 4/114.
However, Penola’s Michael Waters stepped up in the 44th over to bring the 54-run stand to an end.
Hentschke was caught off the second ball of the over, before Water then bowled Connor Little with the final ball of the over to turn the game on its head once again.
After an impressive stand from Stratford and Hentschke, the wickets began to tumble and Jack Mullan soon found himself amongst the action when he dismissed Aiden Creasey and Marc Roberts.
Jones then completed his five-wicket-haul when he dismissed Stratford for 68 runs.
It was a dominant performance from the East Gambier number four, who scored seven 4’s and two 6’s.
Mullan claimed his third wicket to the finish off the innings with the Bulldogs all out for 139.
Jones ended the inning with bowling figures of 5/31 off 18 overs and was supported by Mullan (3/20) and Waters (2/37) who did the damage for Penola.
With the bat, Lewis March and Mullan survived the early stages of the new ball before March was caught behind off Hentschke’s bowling.
Mullan kept the runs ticking over as Tom Clayfield made his way to the crease to try and survive the day.
Mullan scored 36 runs off 61 balls before stumps was called, while Clayfield remained scoreless off 27 balls.
The Eagles ended the day at 1/46, trailing by 93 runs.
