East Gambier hosted South Gambier at Allan Scott Park for the second round in a row, and after an embarrassing defeat to close out the home and away season East responded brilliantly to book a spot in the grand final.

East won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision that would pay off.

James Sullivan opened with Aiden Creasey, who had only been able to make two and a duck since coming back into the A grade side, but batted his way to guaranteed selection for the grand final next week.

The team got off to a slow start and lost the first wicket of Sullivan in the 11th over with only 11 runs on the board.

The early wicket was taken by Jed Sims, who dismissed Sullivan for 11 runs.

The middle order also struggled to get going, with Ben Hentschke and Dion Stratford departing for 17 and 9 runs respectively.

However, Creasey managed to anchor the innings with a solid knock of 46 runs from 153 balls.

He was supported by Ben Robinson who managed a handy 12 runs before being run out and Marc Roberts scored 17, helping his side to cross the 100-run mark.

Despite a few small partnerships, the team continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, with the top scorer Creasey eventually falling to Ryan Kuhl.

Alex Hill remained unbeaten on 19 runs, but the team was bowled out for 170 runs in the 77th over.

South Gambier’s bowling attack was led by Robert Drenthen, who took 3/41 runs in his 18 overs.

Elwood Geary and Camron Jorgensen also contributed with two wickets each, while Ryan Kuhl picked up the one important wicket of Creasey.

With a decent total on the board, East was in a comfortable position ahead of day two and South needed to do their best against a strong bowling attack.

South started off well with Drenthen hitting a four first ball, and then the following over hit East captain Hentscke for a four followed by a six.

However, things took a turn for the worse when Drenthen fell to Hentschke for just 16 runs.

Kuhl also fell cheaply, managing just one run before getting out to Hentschke.

South had quickly become 2/18 having been 0/17, and it did not take long for things to get worse for the Demons.

Stephen Easterbrook and Jed Sims also failed to contribute much, falling for two and 0 runs respectively.

Adam Kuhl and David Somerfield then tried to rebuild the innings, but Kuhl was run out by Hentschke for 19 runs.

David Vine and Elwood Geary also fell cheaply, leaving South in trouble at 65/7.

However, Somerfield continued to hold the fort and was joined by Michael Sims, and together the pair gave South some hope of getting the side across the 100-run mark.

However, shortly after Sims was dismissed for 13.

Jorgensen joined Somerfield and was not able to add to South’s total before being stumped off the bowling of Ben Hentschke.

Alex Hentschke delivered his side the victory, taking the wicket of Somerfield for 67.

East claimed the win by 47 to book themselves a spot in the grand final.

South had an inconsistent season and it showed in their two matches against East as they struggled to trouble the scoreboard.

West Gambier vs Penola
West Gambier overcame Penola to aslo book a spot in the grand final.

Winning the toss, West elected to bat first and their innings got off on the wrong foot.

Nuwan Gunawardana and Trent Badman opened the batting for West Gambier, but it was a short-lived partnership as Badman was dismissed for a duck by Michael Waters with just the third ball of the match.

Gunawardana, on the other hand, continued to bat well and played some attractive shots, scoring 40 runs off 67 deliveries.

However, he was dismissed soon after by Joshua Doyle, who trapped him Ibw.

Justin Dejong came in next but failed to trouble the scorers, dismissed for a 13 ball duck by Jack Mullan.

Jake Blackwell then joined Bray Stephenson at the crease and the pair added a valuable 73 runs for the fourth wicket.

Blackwell played a solid innings of 58 runs off 167 balls, which included eight boundaries.

Bray Stephenson also scored a valuable 42 runs off 67 deliveries, which included six boundaries.

Sam Willis then took the mantle from Blackwell and played a crucial innings of 50 runs off 81 deliveries, which included three boundaries and a six.

The rest of the West Gambier batsmen did not contribute much, and the team was eventually bowled out for 226 runs.

Niall Easterbrook was the last man dismissed, bowled by Lachy Jones for 10 runs.

Jones was the most successful bowler for the Penola Eagles Cricket Club, taking three wickets for 64 runs.

Waters and Mullan also claimed two wickets each, while Lewis March and Joshua Doyle chipped in with two wickets between them.

With a big total on the board West started the second day of play well ahead

The team struggled early on, losing three wickets for just 20 runs.

However, they managed to recover somewhat thanks to the efforts of Waters and Mark Smith.

Mullan, the vice-captain of the Eagles, opened the batting with March.

March was dismissed for a duck by Kyal Chapman, who bowled a tight spell and picked up four wickets in his 20 overs.

Jones was also dismissed cheaply, leaving Penola in trouble at 20 for 2.

Mark Smith joined Mullan at the crease and the pair started to rebuild the innings.

Smith played a patient innings, taking 63 balls to score his 21 runs.

He hit five boundaries but was eventually dismissed by Chapman.

Mullan continued to bat well, scoring 24 runs off 42 balls before being caught by Blackwell off the bowling of Chapman.

Penola’s middle order failed to contribute much, with Drew Clayfield, Jack Schulz and Jesse Vass all dismissed for single-digit scores.

However, Waters played an important innings of 24 runs off 35 balls, including four boundaries and a six.

He was eventually dismissed by Sam Willis, who picked up four wickets for just 14 runs in his seven overs.

Now at 6/84 Penola was in real trouble needing someone to stand up and save them.

It did not happen though and Eli Hunter was the last wicket to fall for Penola, while Joshua Doyle remained unbeaten on six runs off nine balls.

The team was eventually bowled out for 109, falling over 100 runs behind West.

West claimed a massive 117 run victory to book themselves a spot in the grand final.

The dominant display is sure to send a warning to East Gambier.

Penola is now eliminated, failing to defend their title and will hope for better results next season.