West Gambier has finished the first day of its Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association match against East Gambier with a healthy total on the board as it looks for its second win of the season over the Doggies.
Winning the toss, West Gambier selected to bat first at Allan Scott Park, sending the home side into the field.
It did not take long for East to find the first breakthrough with the early departure of Nuwan Gunawardana for nine runs.
Gunawardana was caught in the slips off the bowling of Liam Turley giving East a good start of 1/12 after the first four overs.
After the early wicket Jayden Prior came to the crease and together with Justin Dejong the pair began to rebuild the innings for West Gambier.
As the 20th over approached East Gambier finally broke the partnership with Dejong dismissed on 31.
Bray Stephenson helped build another strong partnership with Prior, however just as it was starting to get going again East found the breakthrough with Ben Hentschke trapping Prior LBW.
Two overs later Hentschke had his second as West Gambier quickly became five down.
Bray Stephenson’s handy innings of 20 was brought to a close by the quick hands of Alex Hill, and Emerson Marks picked up another wicket with Sam Willis caught on 14.
Samuel Coxon and Jack Geddes each made valuable contributions from the bottom order helping their side build a big total.
Shane dejong’s unbeaten 22 runs at the tail end of the innings proved crucial, guiding his team to a commendable total of 190 runs in 74.5 overs.
With the ball it was an excellent shared performance from the East Gambier attack all picking up two wickets each.
Liam Turley and Connor Little, with figures of 2/34 and 2/37 respectively, provided crucial breakthroughs at key junctures.
Emerson Marks showcased his all-round skills, contributing with the ball by taking two wickets for 44 runs in his 25 overs.
Alex and Ben Hentschke also played pivotal roles, securing two wickets each.
West Gambier’s innings coming to a close early left the East Gambier openers with the nightmare of having to face off two overs before stumps.
There was very little fuss though as the day finished with East Gambier on two runs without loss, leaving 10 wickets for West Gambier to take next week and East requiring 189 runs to win.
The stage is set for a gripping conclusion as the run chase will not be an easy one for the reigning premiers of the Barber Shield, the match conclusion will surely be a close one.
