North Sportsman’s v Mil Lel


Ahuge day of Big Bash cricket was played at Frew Park on Sunday with the Dycer Constructions competition catching up on round one matches that were delayed due to wet weather.


Kicking off the day of T20 fun was Mil Lel which took on North Sportsman’s, with Mil Lel winning the toss and sending North in to bat.


North got off to a good start before William Rowland caught Nicholas Brown LBW on eight.


Nick McInerney batted well to get himself to 30 but was brought undone by Mitchell Douglas.


Two overs later Elliot Fisher was out for 14 with Rowland beating the bat to take out Fisher’s stumps.


Two more wickets followed before the 15th over and the match was evenly balanced with North 5-77.


A mini collapse at the end of the 15th over and start of the 16th over saw North lose three wickets in five balls.


Zach Clark and Mathew Robinson added 10 runs to North’s total before the final over, Clark did not see the innings out, bowled by Miller the second ball into the 20th over.


Robinson pulled Miller for a boundary to take North to 97 and with two dot balls to see out the innings Mil Lel required 98 to win.


It was a disastrous start for Mil Lel as Jarrod Saunders attempted to get off the mark with a boundary, skying a ball to Thomas Madigan for a three ball duck.


Madigan took another catch in the next over, this time off the bowling of Fisher with Dinninson out for two and Mil Lel in serious trouble.


Timothy Young took a second wicket in the third over with Jack Miller caught behind.


Nick McInerney joined the fun for North, bowling Dale Bachmann and reducing Mil Lel to 4-16.


The home side was in need of someone to step up and with captain William Rowland at the crease he had the chance to swing the game back in Mil Lel’s favour.


The over after Bachmann’s dismissal Rowland went big, launching three sixes.


The pair turned over the strike well and finding the boundary whenever the pressure started to build. But as the partnership was closing in on a 50 run contribution when Rowland was caught LBW by Robinson.


The wicket proceeded to swing the match back in North’s favour as Mil Lel needed 32 runs from the final five overs.


Mil Lel then lost three wickets for zero runs and four for four.


McInerney took the wicket of Craig Hicks in the 19th over as Mil Lel fell to 9/75.


Mil Lel required 23 off the last over, but the match was sealed within three balls with Isaac Mulraney bowling Thomas Rowland to put Mil Lel all out for 77.


A top order and then middle order collapse meant North Sportsman’s total was too much for Mil Lel, with North winning by 22 runs.
West Gambier v Penola


West Gambier claimed its second win of the Big Bash season on Sunday as it chased down Penola’s total with relative ease at Frew Park.


Penola won the toss and chose to set a total for West Gambier to chase. Its innings started off well as the side scored 21 from the first four overs without loss.


Shane Dejong made the first breakthrough for West Gambier with Drew Clayfield caught on 14.


Michael Waters and James Alexander developed a good partnership in the middle as the pair took Penola past the 50 mark.


Waters was stumped on 27 in the 10th over leaving plenty of time for the new batsman to get his eye in.


Mark Smith and Alexander struggled to find the boundary as the pressure mounted, the pair continued to find runs though, but Smith’s innings was brought to an end on 11 bowled by Sam Willis.


Alexander followed the very next over, falling just short of a 50 caught off the bowling of West Gambier skipper Justin Dejong for 42.


Joshua Doyle and Joshua Smith batted out the remaining three overs, adding 22 runs to the total with Penola finishing with a good score of 5/129.


With a decent total to chase, West Gambier started in the best way possible with Justin Dejong hitting a boundary from the first ball of the innings.


Dejong quickly lost a partner with Nuwan Gunawardana bowled at the end of the second over for five. Sam Willis continued his good form in the middle, finding the boundary early.


Zac Zema provided a much-needed breakthrough in the sixth over with Dejong caught on 16.


With West already 2/48 after the first six overs Penola needed to find constant wickets to stay in the match.


Joshua Smith took an important wicket in the 10th over, dismissing Sam Willis on 38 before Willis could take the match away from the Eagles.


Alexander continued his good match with two big wickets of Sujith Nikethana and Jayden Prior in the same over, but unfortunately for Penola the damage was done.


Three runs from Kyal Chapman in the next over sealed the win for West with 14 balls to spare.
South Gambier v East Gambier


South Gambier won in a low scoring affair in what was a rematch from last season’s Big Bash final as East Gambier once again came out second best.


Winning the toss, South Gambier sent East Gambier into bat with David Somerfield striking early, bowling Alex Hill for four.


Stephen Easterbrook then joined the action with Dion Stratford bowled and caught on two.


Jacob Carger looked good early but was bowled by James Robert on 16 before he could cause any serious damage to South.


The partnership between Emerson Marks and Alex Hentschke was an important one in the context of the match.


However, neither could find a way to score quickly and were dismissed within an over of each other, with Hentschke caught behind on 14, while Marks was caught for seven.


At 6/55 after 13 overs East Gambier needed some good quick runs from the bottom order.


Harrison Evans came to the crease and struck the ball well but he did not last long with a good catch ending his innings on 15.


Connor Little and Ben Robinson looked to see out the innings and find some runs, but neither could find the boundary.


Little was caught in the 19th over which brought Marc Roberts to the crease.


Some poor fielding saw Roberts dropped twice in the final over before he launched the final ball for a boundary to finish the innings for East Gambier 8/90.


South Gambier’s run chase started off in the best possible fashion with a boundary first ball from Stephen Easterbrook.


Easterbrook then went big and scored 16 runs for the over taking a massive chunk out of the required runs.


A mix up between Easterbrook and Robert Drenthen in the second over saw Drenthen run out, a massive wicket for East Gambier.


Two overs later Easterbrook was also out bowled by Liam Turley on 21 from 12 balls.


With Easterbrook and Drenthen out and South 2/23 East Gambier was right back in the match.


Adam Kuhl and Josh Thompson stabilised the situation and took some hope away from East Gambier.


The pair got South to the 12th over with 58 on the board when Kuhl became the second victim of a run out on 17.


Thompson was then run out two overs later as South Gambier’s running between the wickets became a serious problem for the side.


At 4/68 and five overs left South Gambier was in a comfortable position only requiring 23 runs thanks to Easterbrook’s explosive start to the innings.


David Somerfield and James Roberts paired well at the crease, taking the run chase easily.


Roberts did not survive the innings, bringing Hanish Jalota to the crease who smashed a six from the second ball of his innings to tie the scores.


Somerfield hit a single and confirmed the win for South Gambier, an important win in the side’s season.