East Gambier v Mil Lel


East Gambier secured a decisive win against Mil Lel last Thursday during round 3 of the Dycer Constructions Big Bash season.


East Gambier won the toss at Allan Scott Park and decided to bat first with hopes of setting a big total for Mil Lel to chase.


Alex Hill and Dion Stratford got East Gambier off to a quick start with 15 runs off the first three overs.


Stratford was caught on 10 in the fourth over with Toby Grigg snaring the wicket.


Captain Emerson Marks joined Hill at the crease but was unable to get going before he was caught on four. Hill continued to score at a good strike rate when he was joined by his fourth partner, as the pair began to pile on the runs and turn the match in East Gambier’s favour.


Mitchell Douglas made the important breakthrough for Mil Lel catching Hill LBW on 34.


Alex Hentschke scored a valuable 28 runs alongside his partner’s 49 and Hentschke remained not out, as East Gambier’s innings finished 4//140 after 20 overs.


It was an excellent first innings total from the home side as Mil Lel had quite the task ahead of it if it hoped to remain unbeaten in the Big Bash.


With a required run rate of seven an over Mil Lel had a slow start with only three from the first over, Ty Dinnison started to get the innings moving with the side’s first boundary in the second over, but the final ball of the over he was caught off the bowling of Emerson Marks.


Marc Roberts was brought into the attack and made an impact straight away with Archer Virtanen dismissed for a duck.


East Gambier added to the early wickets with Marks taking a second with Jack Miller caught LBW on five.


In a case of deja vu, Marks’ wicket on the final ball of the over was followed by Roberts taking a wicket with his first of the over.


Jarrod Sanders was Roberts’ second scalp and Mil Lel very quickly found itself four down within five overs.


Liam Turley entered the attack and enjoyed similar successes to his teammate’s dismissing Douglas for seven.


Before the end of the tenth over Mil Lel lost two more important wickets with Dale Bachmann and Darcy Williamson making their way back to the shed.


Mil Lel was in serious trouble at the halfway point, seven down and requiring a run rate of 11 an over.


East took little time to finish the job with Hentscke, Marks and Roberts each taking a wicket within four overs to bowl Mil Lel out for 40 from 15 overs.


East Gambier finished decisive 100 run winners with efforts from Alex Hill and Emerson Marks proving the difference.
West Gambier v South Gambier


West Gambier chased down a good South Gambier total in a final over thriller at Malseed Park during round three.


West Gambier won the toss and decided to chase, sending South Gambier into bat.


Both sides were hoping to avoid going winless in the first two matches, meaning the stakes were high.


It was the ideal start for West Gambier with Stephen Easterbrook caught on four in the second over in the match.


Robert Drenthen and Josh Thompson started to stabilise after the early wicket and looked to find some runs themselves.


The pair began to rotate the strike well and put pressure on the West Gambier bowling attack as they consistently found the boundary.


In the 12th over Justin Dejong found the breakthrough for his team with Robert Drenthen out for 52.


Jakob Opie came to the crease but followed Drenthen back to the stands in the same over with a boundary being the sole runs he scored for the match.


Josh Thompson continued to find runs often but was brought undone in the 17th over when he was run out for 41.


Noah Maxwell followed the very next ball for six off nine balls with Justin Dejong taking a third wicket.


Sam Willis joined in the wicket taking the following over after catching Sam Bradbrook LBW.


South Gambier added 16 runs in the final three overs with West Gambier taking one more wicket.


After the 20 overs South Gambier had a commendable first innings score of 7/141.


After sending South Gambier in to bat, West Gambier knew it needed to chase the runs to prove it made the right decision at the toss – and the West batsmen delivered.


An 11 run over kicked the innings off in the best possible fashion for West Gambier.


But the bowling tightened up in the second over with Robert Drenthen bowling a maiden.


Richard Crute found his groove with the bat as he started to score freely including back to back to back boundaries in the fifth over.


Crute went big with a six followed by a four in the sixth over but his innings was brought to an end by Noah Maxwell the next ball.


Crute was gone for 34 from 18 balls getting his side off to a flying start.


Justin Dejong on 18 would be the next wicket for South Gambier, and then Sam Willis was out two balls later for two.


South had taken the match back in its favour when Samuel Coxon joined Jake Blackwell at the crease with Blackwell batting for the first time this season.


Blackwell showed no signs of rust in his return from injury as he started to cause South Gambier problems.


Coxon helped tick over the strike as Blackwell found boundaries.


With 15 runs required from the final two overs the pair had the chance to win the match for West.


The second ball of the 19th over, Drenthen bowled Coxon and gave his side hope it could defend the total.


With four runs from the first three balls in the last over West Gambier needed five runs to win with three balls remaining, ensuring the match was going down to the wire.


Kyal Chapman sent the ball to the boundary, tying the scores with two balls remaining.


Chapman and Blackwell ran a single to win with a ball to spare, Blackwell finishing 51 not out after a terrific run chase.
Penola v North Sportsman’s


North Sportsman’s remains undefeated after the first two matches of the Big Bash season with an excellent performance against Penola on Thursday.


Penola decided it would bowl first at McCorquindale Park and the decision proved fruitful early with North openers Isaac Mulraney and Nicholas Brown out before either could get going.


Elliot Fisher scored a quick-fire 32 from 19 balls but was caught off the bowling of Zac Zema.


Declan Kenny only lasted two balls before being caught for a duck, and Mitch Lewis retired on 17.


Penola took consistent wickets till the end of the 20 overs.


Zach Clark was bowled for six by Michael Waters in the 19th over, and Thomas Magidan was bowled for seven by Finley MacColl in the final over.


Mathew Robinson and Timothy Young finished two and one not out respectively, with the Tigers setting Penola a run chase of 121.


It was a tough run chase for the home side, and the 34 extras in the first innings did not help Penola.


The first four overs were a slow start for Penola as the openers settled in to the innings, Drew Clayfield began to look comfortable with a six and then a four three balls later.


But North Sportsman’s captain Elliot Fisher stepped up, bowling Clayfield for 16 just as Penola started to threaten.


Joshua Smith was bowled by Mulraney in the next over for four, with Mulraney picking up Mark Smith two overs later for nine.


It was a tough few overs for Penola but with the assistance of William Von Stanke Michael Waters was able to steady the ship and start to get some runs on the board.


Von Stanke was out before long, and Waters quickly lost another partner with Joshua Doyle caught for a run a ball seven.


In the 17th over, with the Eagles closing in on the total, Mulraney took the crucial wicket of Waters for 43.


North knew that if Waters was batting at the end of the 20 then it would lose, showing how important the wicket was.


Penola required 20 runs from the final two overs, but North bowled well under pressure.


In the 19th over Penola managed to score four runs with Kenny picking up the wickets of Zema and Tyler Jones.


Needing 16 runs to win in the final over, the task was too difficult for Penola as North finished nine run winners.


Despite an excellent innings from Waters, North’s total was too much for the home side which suffered its second defeat of the campaign.