Nothing could stop West Gambier from charging to the Dycer Constructions Big Bash T20 trophy with a complete performance putting the cherry on top of a perfect campaign at Frew Park on Sunday.

The picturesque venue turned it on for finals day with blue skies, a green outfield, big crowd and live music providing the perfect backdrop for the Roos to skip to their first T20 title in six years.

West has been the bridesmaids in numerous recent Big Bash finals, but no side could match the all-round depth of Justin DeJong’s men this summer.

After crushing Mil Lel’s dreams in devastating fashion in the semi-final, the Roos met reigning premier Penola in the decider.

The Eagles looked deadly early, but their wings were clipped by an all-round effort from Sam Willis, who guided West home by seven wickets to snatch the trophy with a leg in the air.

West showed its class in the opening over of the day against a hopeful Mil Lel team on home turf when a semi-final opened proceedings.

But any dreams of a fairytale win for Logan Gibbs and Jack Miller were blown apart by Bray Stephenson.

Stephenson and co extracted a deadly amount of seam movement off the pitch, which was too much for Mil Lel to handle.

Only Daniel Justin, Miller and Craig Lock could reach double figures as eight of the 10 dismissed Mil Lel batters were castled.

Stephenson claimed 4/23, while Willis and Richard Crute also had some fun restricting the opponents to a meagre 76.

In almost a carbon copy of the group stages, the Roos found themselves cruising to the finish line thanks to some heavy hitting from DeJong and Niall Easterbrook to setup an eight-wicket win.

Last summer’s finalists Penola and North Sportsman’s were jousting for a spot in the decider and both were undermanned after the COVID-19 outbreak in the Country Cup squad.

Looking to build scoreboard pressure, the Tigers batted first, but were in for a shock with runs tough to come by.

Big hitter Jake Schutz was removed in the second over which was a sign of things to come with the first four not arriving until the fifth over.

Zac Zema and Jack Mullan and applied the brakes on the Tigers, who struggled to escape second gear on the crumbling pitch.

No boundary was scored in the final 13 overs, while Penola chipped away restricting North to 9/90 from 20 overs.

Michael Johnston hung around for an unbeaten 25, while Josh Doyle was the star with the ball picking up 3/8.

Isaac Mulraney and Mitch Lewis generated some interest in the run chase by knocking over Mullan and both Clayfields cheaply.

However, North’s fightback proved to be short lived as Jack Schulz and Lachlan Jones guided the Eagles home by six wickets with a pair of well-made 29’s.

The two convincing semi-finals meant the two best sides met in the finale and only one of them could remain unbeaten and lift the coveted Big Bash trophy.

Looking to make the most of the used pitch, Penola batted first and big hitters Schulz and Mullan were in the mood.

Helped by Stephenson’s inability to find his radar, Schulz blasted the first legal delivery for six over fine leg, while Mullan got off the mark with a delightfully lofted cover drive.

The Eagles captain was timing the ball immaculately evoking memories of his match-winning performance in last summer’s final, while Stephenson suffered a nightmare nine-ball first over conceding 18 runs.

It provided Penola with the launching pad to strike at almost 10 runs per over and place some pressure on West skipper DeJong for the first time during the T20 the competition.

With the Eagles rollicking along scoring 49 from the first five, DeJong turned to the experienced Kyal Chapman for inspiration and the move paid off.

He deceived both openers and cut short their assaults at the critical moment before getting Thomas Clayfield in his second over of a game-changing spell.

The three quick wickets slowed Penola’s momentum and Jones and Drew Clayfield were forced to regain some ground against the tight Chapman, Crute and Josh Cornolo.

Jones looked to muscle the ball down the ground, while Clayfield was funkier playing some ramps as the scoreboard raced past triple figures.

The Eagles had their sights set on the 140-run mark and the pair started to take risks between the wickets.

However, Jones paid the price when he took on the arm of Crute and was caught short of his ground for 17 just when he looked to up the tempo.

Then it was Willis’ turn and he rattled the stumps of Clayfield on 34 to remove both set batters in as many balls.

Although he missed out on the team hat-trick, Willis trapped Brad Maney lbw for a globe and trio of wickets swung the game completely.

Some busy cricket from Doyle meant Penola had to settle for 6/125, but the late blitz led by Willis changed the momentum.

It may not have been the score the Eagles were hoping for, but it forced West to chase triple figures for the first time in the competition and the run chase did not get off to a great start after the early wicket of Niall Easterbrook.

But at the other end DeJong was determined to lead his boys home and opened the innings with a crunching cover drive.

He found a partner in Crute, who threatened to win the game off his own bat, hitting some monster sixes over cow corner.

However, some stunning fielding from Jones sent the Eagles onto cloud9.

After running 15 metres to catch Easterbrook, Jones outdid himself by diving straight into the path of a smoked slog by Crute.

The ball was travelling hard and fast, but Jones held on to keep Penola in the game.

With 79 runs still to win, the game was in the balance when Willis chipped a chance second ball, but Matthew Maidment misjudged it.

Penola was forced to pay the price as Willis joined forces with DeJong to keep West well above the required run rate.

Despite DeJong being forced to depart for a crucial 31 after some quick thinking by gloveman Schulz to produce a run out from nothing, there was no need to panic in the Roos’ camp.

Willis and Stephenson were ice cool, playing the ball late to manipulate the off side and mow down the total.

The calculated partnership put on 57 runs from 49 balls with Willis the star finishing unbeaten on 46 as the undisputed man of the match, plus hitting the winning runs with a cracking boundary over long off.

It was the fitting finish to the perfect campaign from the Roos.