Trevor Jackson
ROUND 9 of the Hoggies Wines Barber Shield cricket continues this weekend, with Day 2 of the match set to provide some entertaining results.
North Sportsman’s will look to chase a decent total achieved by West Gambier on the opening day of play.
The Roos batted deep into the order, all out for 232.
the big highlight was from Jake Blackwell, who finished the day with an impressive 73 runs off 136 deliveries batting at number three.
As the wickets fell in the mid to lower order, Niall Easterbrook stood up and contributed a timely 22 off 219 balls to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
With the bat the Tigers have not enjoyed the best season, but against Mil Lel in Round 5 they showed their potential.
A half-century to Matthew Robinson was eclipsed by a century from Nick McInerney to provide a real springboard for the Tigers to go on with the job.
They did that with good starts from Thomas Madigan, Harry Fisher and Isaac Mulraney and finished with 305 runs total.
They will certainly need that input tomorrow if they are to chase down the Roos’ total.
West has been well served by the likes of Sam Willis, Bray Stephenson, Trent Badman and Kyal Chapman, to name just a few.
They will be hell-bent on stifling the Norths bats in a game that should provide some real entertainment at Marist Park, should the Tigers get off to a good start.
Up at McCorquindale Park Penola will look to apply plenty of pressure with the ball as they look to defend their 199 total against South Gambier.
The likes of Lewis March, Michael Waters, Lachy Jones and Jack Mullan provide plenty of bowling power for the Eagles and would hope to get on top early.
The Demons have also had mixed results with the bat, but certainly have the ability to chase down a target.
The top order needs to fire and set a strong foundation.
Elwood Geary and Jared Kuhl are already at the crease after facing three overs on day one and will need to go on with it.
If they can do that the Demons will be in a strong position and should be able to chase down the total.
The remaining games sees the best chance for a result, with Mil Lel struggling after bundling East Gambier out for 154 at Alan Scott Park.
Alex Hentschke was on fire with the ball in hand and claimed four wickets before stumps for just 42 runs.
It leaves Jack Miller, along with the middle and lower order to chase down the total.
If Ty Dinnison and Miller can dig in and nudge the run rate along, they may have a chance to hold out the Bulldogs, but East will certainly have first-innings points in their sights and will be hard to beat.
