By Trevor Jackson
EAST GAMBIER 1/27 V NORTH SPORTSMAN’S 10/99
ROUND 9 of Barber Shield cricket was not overly kind to North Sportsman’s against East Gambier on Saturday, with the Bulldogs on top after day one of play.
Runs were hard to come by as the Tigers looked to set a defendable target for the Bulldogs to chase.
North won the toss and elected to bat at Scott Park, but could only muster 99 runs in just 54 overs.
Alex Hentschke opened the bowling for the Bulldogs and apart from two runs off the first ball, he bowled tight, with the remaining five deliveries dot balls.
He followed that up with a maiden to keep the Tigers honest.
But it was Liam Turley who made the first breakthrough, as he trapped Matthew Robinson lbw for just four runs.
Dot balls were the order of the day, until Hentschke’s tight bowling had Michael Johnston caught for a 12-ball duck.
Hentschke and Turley continued to frustrate the North batsmen, before Marc Roberts and Connor Little took the ball and continued in a similar vein.
Elliott Fisher was caught by Hentschke off the bowling of Roberts, contributing just seven runs off 28 deliveries.
Brad Robinson then joined Alex Hutton in the middle and the pair settled the Tigers’ innings until Little struck, providing Hentschke with another catch, with Hutton sent back to the sidelines for a steady 11 runs off 74 balls.
From there, apart from the odd boundary and a couple of singles, the Tigers continued to struggle.
Nicolas Brown looked settled at the crease, but with 15 runs chalked up, he was sent on his way, clean bowled by Emerson Marks for 15.
A couple of overs later Brad Robinson was caught-and-bowled by Marks for 25 and the Tigers were in real trouble.
Declan Kenny could only contribute two runs to the cause and from there only Isaac Mulraney reached double figures.
He finished the innings unbeaten on 10 as Marks cleaned up the tail and North was all out for just 99 after 53 overs.
Marks efforts with the ball produced five wickets for just 16 runs in an impressive display of bowling.
That left plenty of time for the Bulldogs to bat, with what should be a comfortable run chase.
Unfortunately for East, Dion Stratford was caught off the bowling of Fisher for a cautious 17.
He took 68 deliveries to reach that figure, while at the other end Ben Robinson faced 74 balls for an unbeaten eight.
At stumps the Bulldogs were 1/27 after 24 overs and look in the box seat to claim a win when play resumes on Saturday.
