After two tight battles in the Sunday afternoon sun at Frew Park, the South East and Hamilton Women’s Cricket Associations shared the honours of the inaugural Western Border Challenge.

For the first time the cross-border associations converged to the picturesque Mount Gambier venue to contest a pair of hard fought T20 matches.

It was also the debut of the South East women’s representative team and the squad made up of the best players from the South East Female Open Age Cricket League gave it their all.

Fresh from the road trip, the Victorian visitors landed the first blow by taking home the maiden installment of the rivalry.

Hamilton won the toss to get first use on the true pitch under cloudless skies, but it was not allowed to dictate terms as ball dominated bat for the entire day.

Opening batter Ros Thatcher negotiated the opening over from Sarah Robertson with ease to get proceedings under way, while South Gambier’s Laura Chester steamed in from the other end.

Chester was on the money straight away and clean bowled Jacqui Robinson for a two-ball duck.

Following Leah Drendel’s aggressive start scoring a boundary on her second ball the fans were given a taste of what was in store.

Drendel appeared to be the proactive partner for Thatcher to establish the innings, but Chester had other ideas once again.

The Demon was on fire and found herself on a hat-trick after removing Drendel and Hamilton captain Paige Murrell in consecutive delivers.

Despite being unable to complete the set, Chester had already left her mark on the game in her two-over spell.

Her work forced the visitors to play catchup, but Thatcher was still at the crease and looking dangerous.

She was the only batter to stand up tall to the home side hitting the ball hard and finding gaps in the field.

However, wickets continued to tumble at the other end as Sharnna Devereux struck twice to leave Hamilton in the sticky situation of 5/37.

Thatcher eventually found a partner in Sasha Romans who hung around long enough for the total to creep past 50.

At this point Thatcher was the glue holding the innings together and the South East players knew they had to find a way to get her out.

They thought they found the breakthrough when a Lydia Megaw full and straight delivery deceived Thatcher and the opener was clean bowled to the delight of the home side.

However, South East celebrations were cut short after the umpire signaled no ball to keep Thatcher at the crease.

Despite the disappointment the hosts did not need to worry as Megaw induced another false stroke from Thatcher, who was well caught by Devereux at mid on.

With Thatcher’s knock of 27 out of the way, South East went to work at the tail, but could not finish the job.

Young and Megaw were able to take a couple of later wickets, but regular extras gave Hamilton an extra gear to finish its 20 overs with 9/88 on the scoreboard as Chester was the clear standout with the ball with 4/11.

After a fine effort in the field the hosts fancied their chances of a win on debut.

Elizabeth Plew looked to get the run chase off to a fast start scoring an early four, but a mix up cut her innings short.

The run out was the start of a tough time at the crease for South East’s top order as only one member of the top five could defy the bowling.

As South East slipped to 4/28, Young remained committed to the cause scoring a couple of rare boundaries to keep her pursuit alive.

But once the skipper fell for 16, the home side had little resistance left.

Young’s dismissal led to a collapse of 5/9 as South East slipped to defeat 23 runs short of victory.

Drendel was close to unplayable picking up 2/3 from three overs.

After the sides enjoyed a lunch break the players reconvened for the return bout and the hosts wanted revenge.

South East padded up first and the top order answered the call.

Being promoted a place up the batting order Chester delivered, scoring a boundary from her third ball and getting the team off to a solid start.

Her helpful partnerships with Plew, Chelsea Gabriel and Young allowed the hosts to power through the first half of the innings.

Despite Chester eventually falling for 20, her captain picked up from where she left off.

Young steered her team through the back half of the innings and smartly farmed the strike to limit the risk of quick wickets.

She was the driving force behind a series of productive stands and was the reason why South East broke the triple-figure barrier.

Young finished the innings unbroken on 37 after Hamilton threw everything at her giving all 10 bowlers an opportunity.

With 6/107 the marker set by South East, the Victorians needed a strong start.

However, Robinson ruined Hamilton’s hopes by making a mess of Drendel’s stumps first ball.

The remaining members of the visitors top four were able to recover the innings and leave the game finally poised at 3/58.

Captain Murrell looked the most dangerous racing to 19 off 15 balls, but when she fell Hamilton struggled to bounce back.

It was Robertson, who took the key wicket which sparked a significant collapse as Megaw had some fun with the ball also taking three poles.

South East went on a rampage to bowl out Hamilton for 79 and end the big day on a high note, reclaiming some bragging rights in the process.

Following a fine day of cricket played in the right spirit, a 1-1 draw was the fitting result for the inaugural Western Border Challenge and the players are already looking forward to resuming the rivalry next summer.