West Gambier v Mil Lel
West Gambier are back into the Zema Estate Barber Shield Grand Final for another year as they get a crack at back-to-back premierships after a thrilling win over Mil Lel in the semi final on the weekend.
Mil Lel started Saturday at the crease after winning the toss, taking to the top quality Frew Park wicket.
Mil Lel did not get off to the best of starts for their standards as an early dismissal from Nick Walters saw them down a wicket with only a handful of runs on the board.
The slow start continued as Will Rowland fell a few overs later on seven runs with Roos captain Bray Stephenson picking up both the opening wickets.
Mil Lel strung together some consistency at the crease as opener Jarrod Sanders added some much needed runs.
Sanders spent plenty of time at the crease, facing 141 balls and making 49 runs.
Mil Lel were able to get some runs on the board with Vaibhav Patel and Archer Virtanen at the crease, with both making a big impact.
Patel finished his innings with 22 runs while Virtanen smacked 34, hitting four fours and one six in his innings.
The Roos were able to slow down Mil Lel in the later part of the innings as they held Jack Miller and Harry Hicks to only two runs while Boyd Millhouse fell for a duck.
The Roos had Mil Lel all out in just under 54 overs for 134.
West had three bowlers who all took wickets on Saturday as Bray Stephenson took four, while Sam Willis and Justin de Jong both claimed three a piece.
West went in to bat near the end of day one, building a solid foundation to have 78 runs at the end of the day’s play.
Opener Justin de Jong started his side off strong making 56 off 48, while fellow opener Jayden Prior did not have the same impact, falling after 12 balls with only one run to his name.
Nuwan Gunawardana and Jake Blackwell had solid innings with the bat as they both made 10 runs.
In the back end of the innings West had to work hard to make up the runs as Mil Lel continued to chip away and take wickets.
Bray Stephenson and Sujith Nikethana helped the Roos get across the line with an 11 run effort from the skipper, while Nikethana finished 22 not out after hitting a four to seal the victory for West in only 38 overs.
Stephenson said his team was thrilled to come away with the win on the weekend.
“It was pretty good to get the win, we bowled first and we bowled pretty good,” he said.
“We bowled well at the start and towards the end but in the middle overs we probably let them get away from us a little bit.”
Stephenson thought Justin de Jong had a good performance with the bat despite the side not playing their best cricket.
“With the bat we got off to a good start with Justin de Jong scoring a half century so the game was in the balance overnight,” he said.
“Then batting wise the next day we lost wickets a little bit easily but we were still scoring the runs.
“We definitely did not play our best cricket, but it was a gutsy win which was good.”
North Sportsmans v Penola
Penola will return to the big dance this weekend after a solid semi final win over North Sportsmans at Marist Park.
After winning the toss Penola started Saturday afternoon at the crease and put some runs on the board early.
Opener Jack Mullan set the tone for the side as he made 28 off 67 while Lewis March did not have the best of innings, only making one from 15.
Bredon Smart had a long day at the crease for the Eagles as he helped get his side some big runs.
Smart finished on 39 after facing 156 balls.
Down the order Penola continued to add to their total as Eli Hunter made nine runs while Drew Clayfield put 10 on the board.
Eagles skipper Michael Waters did some damage with the bat, making 24 off 46.
Late in the innings Penola got a few more crucial runs as Curt Evans chipped in with nine while Matthew Honner and Joshua Doyle both ended on five.
Penola finished with a score of 147.
North’s Tim Young and Scott Kenny both did well with the ball, taking three wickets each.
The Tigers headed into bat on day two and got off to a solid start as Brad Robinson made 10 off 46 while Nicolas Brown put eight on the board after facing 29.
Tigers captain Mitch Lewis had a great innings with the bat as he contributed 24 off 41.
After the strong start the Tigers began to crumble as the run rate slowed.
North did not get much out of Nick McInerney and Alex Hutton as McInerney fell on two while Hutton made three.
It continued to go downhill for the Tigers as they struggled to get something going, with Isaac Mulraney making the most in the back half of the innings with seven.
The Eagles had the Tigers all out in 40 overs as North finished with 73 runs.
Penola’s Michael Waters and Bredon Smart both had influential innings with the ball, taking four wickets each.
Penola captain Michael Waters thought his side had a pretty good performance in the semi final on the weekend.
“We played pretty well, batting first probably helped us a bit and getting a competitive score got us in the game heading into Sunday and we bowled and fielded pretty well on Sunday to keep them under,” he said.
Waters thought many players stepped up when the side needed it on the weekend.
“On the Saturday with the bat, Bredon Smart got 39 which was a pretty crucial innings, it was a bit of a grind but he still turned out the runs,” he said.
“Jack Mullan got 28 and then there were a few 15s and 20s at the end which helped prop us up to 147 which was a reasonable score because North bowled really well so they made it tough all day so to grind out 147 was not too bad in the end.”
